Day4. Libaak-Alfonso keep flying high: Friday brings a showdown with the ‘Chingalan’. Garrido and De Pascual pull off a major upset

Quarter-finals in Rotterdam, quarter-finals in Düsseldorf, and now quarter-finals in Milan. The partnership of Gonza Alfonso and Tino Libaak continues to impress. Before reaching the last eight at the past two Premier Padel tournaments, they had also won the FIP Silver events in Porto Sant’Elpidio and Budapest and reached the semi-finals at the P1 in Madrid. Having lost to Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia in both the Netherlands and Germany, the all-Argentine pair — both set to play at the World Championships in Doha, where Libaak scored the decisive point for the title two years ago — will now take on Fede Chingotto and Ale Galan at the Allianz Cloud. They booked their place in the last eight with a 6-1 7-6 win over Mike Yanguas and Pablo Lijó. The latter partnership was formed following Coki Nieto’s injury but, despite being the number eight seeds, they could not make it past the round of 16. In the evening, the defending champions at the Oysho Milano Premier Padel P1 wrapped up their match against Xisco Gil/Rama Valenzuela in just 58 minutes, winning 6-1 6-1. The other quarter-final in the bottom half will see Juan Lebron and Leo Augsburger, who beat Edu Alonso and Aimar Goñi 6-4 6-2, face Javi Garrido and Juani De Pascual, who brought the run of fifth seeds Paquito Navarro and Martin Di Nenno to an end with a 6-2 6-3 victory.

 

In the top half of the draw, Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia, following their 6-2 6-2 win over José Jimenez and Alex Arroyo, will face sixth seeds Fran Guerrero and Javi Leal, who have already beaten them in Pretoria. Franco Stupaczuk and Jon Sanz (4), runners-up in Rotterdam and Düsseldorf, defeated Javi Garcia and Alex Ruiz 6-2 6-2 and will continue their campaign against Momo Gonzalez and Lucas Campagnolo, who came through a three-set all-Brazilian clash against Lucas Bergamini and Jairo Bautista, winning 6-3 1-6 6-3.

 

WOMEN Seven of the eight seeded pairs have reached the quarter-finals, with the only exception being Raquel Eugenio and Jimena Velasco. After defeating seventh seeds Marina Guinart and Ale Alonso in the first round, they repeated the feat with a straight-sets win over Carolina Orsi and Patty Llaguno. It was also a day of disappointment for the other Italian pair remaining in the draw: Giulia Dal Pozzo and Nuria Rodriguez lost 6-4 6-2 to Ale Salazar and Aranzazu Osoro. All the leading pairs began their campaigns with victories, but while Delfi Brea and Gemma Triay (6-0 6-3 against Bea Caldera and Noa Canovas), Ari Sanchez and Andrea Ustero (6-3 6-2 against Araceli Martinez and Lucia Martinez) and Claudia Fernandez and Martina Calvo (6-3 6-2 against Jessica Castelló and Laia Rodriguez) needed only two sets, Paula Josemaria and Bea Gonzalez had to go the distance. They defeated Lorena Rufo and Victoria Iglesias 6-7 6-3 6-2 after two hours and 37 minutes.

 

Delfi Brea and Gemma Triay will open Friday’s action on Centre Court at 9 am CEST against Velasco/Eugenio, followed by Salazar/Osoro against Sanchez/Ustero. Josemaria and Gonzalez will open the evening session against Tamara Icardo and Claudia Jensen, who beat Veronica Virseda and Martina Fassio 7-6 6-1. On Court 1, Fernandez/Calvo will face Marta Ortega and Sofia Araujo, who are fresher after receiving a walkover in the round of 16 following the withdrawal of Marta Borrero and Teresa Navarro.