Another landmark addition to the calendar: Olympia welcomes the world’s best players

The world’s top padel stars have crossed continents: from Pretoria, South Africa, to London, home of another major new addition to the Qatar Airways Premier Padel Tour. Olympia will stage the first-ever Premier Padel tournament to be played in the United Kingdom, where the sport continues to grow rapidly thanks to strong development and long-term planning. From Tuesday to Sunday, following the conclusion of the qualifying draws, the P1 event will feature the world’s best pairs, combining established partnerships with some of the new combinations that impressed in Pretoria. Fran Guerrero and Javi Leal, finalists in South Africa, could meet Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia as early as the quarter-finals, while Claudia Fernandez and Martina Calvo, who came within two points of lifting the title in their debut tournament together, have been drawn in the bottom half, with a potential quarter-final against Paula Josemaria and Bea Gonzalez.

 

MEN The men’s draw features 48 pairs, with the 16 seeded teams receiving first-round byes and entering directly in the round of 32. The spotlight will naturally be on Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia, who will begin their campaign against either brothers Nuno and Miguel Deus or a qualifying pair, as well as on Fede Chingotto and Ale Galan, who returned to winning ways in Pretoria after more than two months. The second seeds will face either Italians Flavio Abbate and Alvaro Montiel or Argentinians Juani Rubini and Maxi Sanchez in their opening match. After missing the Pretoria P1, fourth seeds Franco Stupaczuk and Mike Yanguas return to the draw, while third seeds Juan Lebron and Leo Augsburger will begin their final tournament before the summer break against Agustin Torre and Alvaro Cepero or a qualifying pair. Potential quarter-finals: Coello/Tapia (1) vs Guerrero/Leal (7), Di Nenno/Navarro (5) vs Stupaczuk/Yanguas (4), Lebron/Augsburger (3) vs Nieto/Sanz (6), Gonzalez/Campagnolo (8) vs Chingotto/Galan (2).

 

WOMEN As usual, the women’s draw features 28 pairs and welcomes back Ari Sanchez and Andrea Ustero after they missed both Malaga and Pretoria. The Spanish pair, seeded third, are in the top half of the draw and will begin on Thursday against either Sofia Saiz and Lucia Sainz or Martina Fassio and Raquel Eugenio. Also in the top half are Pretoria champions Delfi Brea and Gemma Triay, who will open their campaign against Lorena Rufo and Victoria Iglesias or a qualifying pair. In the bottom half, Paula Josemaria and Bea Gonzalez will face either Lucia Martinez and Agueda Perez or Marta Caparros and Julieta Bidahorria, while Fernandez and Calvo will begin against either Alix Collombon and Ksenia Sharifova or British wild cards Aimee Gibson and Catherine Rose. Potential quarter-finals: Brea/Triay (1) vs Ortega/Araujo (5), Salazar/Osoro (8) vs Sanchez/Ustero (3), Fernandez/Calvo (4) vs Icardo/Jensen (6), Guinart/Alonso (7) vs Josemaria/Gonzalez (2).