Barahona-Piotto and Fassio-Lopez celebrate in Turin: champions of the season’s final FIP Gold tournament

TURIN – The smiles on their faces after converting match point said it all about how much they wanted to win. Javi Barahona and Nacho Piotto claimed victory at the FIP Gold Mediolanum Padel Torino, defeating NextGen pair Santino Contreras and Santi Pineda 6-3, 6-3 in the final. After losing the FIP Gold finals in Perugia (with Maxi Sanchez Blasco) and Seville (with Piotto) in October, Barahona returned to winning ways. It was the fourth Italian title of his career on the CUPRA FIP Tour. “I am very happy to have won,” said Barahona. “After losing two finals, we have finally secured a victory. I have to thank Nacho: he played really well.” He then dedicated the victory to his fiancée, whom he will marry next year: “I promised you I would win.” Piotto also had a message for Barahona: “Playing with Javi is a pleasure. He is not only an incredible player but also a great person.”

In the women’s draw, Amanda Lopez and Camila Fassio claimed the title with a 6-4, 7-6 victory over Julia Polo and Ana Dominguez. The pair had already secured two titles together on the CUPRA FIP Tour this year. The match was closely contested: the champions secured the decisive break in the first set at 4-4, while they prevailed in the second-set tie-break. “Thank you to all the spectators who came out in such numbers to watch us over the past few days. Playing in Turin is fantastic,” said Fassio. “I am very pleased with the level of our game throughout the tournament. The final was extremely tough: we played against a very strong pair. Overall, all our matches this week were very demanding.” Lopez also commented on the victory: “Seeing so many people around the court is incredible. We managed to win the title in a very complicated final. We gave everything we had and, in the end, we did it.”