Day4. One day, three major upsets: Jensen-Icardo, Abbate-Dal Bianco and Garrido-De Pascual still chasing glory

The quarter-finals of the Dubai Premier Padel P1 produced three major upsets: two in the men’s draw and one in the women’s. Flavio Abbate, Franco Dal Bianco and Juani De Pascual had never reached a Premier Padel semi-final in their careers. Abbate and Dal Bianco achieved the feat by beating Momo Gonzalez and Lucas Campagnolo 7-6 3-6 6-3, while De Pascual, alongside Javi Garrido, defeated number 3 seeds Franco Stupaczuk and Jon Sanz 6-1 7-5. De Pascual is one of the rising talents of Argentina’s NextGen and a compatriot of Dal Bianco. Abbate, meanwhile, has delivered another outstanding result for Italian padel, which had already seen Giulia Dal Pozzo reach two semi-finals this year, in Rome and Valladolid. Only Sofia Araujo (seven times) and Lucas Campagnolo (twice) have managed, like Abbate and Dal Pozzo, to break into the ranks of the Spanish and Argentinian powerhouses, demonstrating how the level is rising in other countries too. “Like every player, my goal is to keep climbing higher, hopefully into the top 10”, said Abbate after his quarter-final victory in Dubai. “Representing Italy is a great source of pride, and it is wonderful to see padel growing in so many countries”. Abbate and Dal Bianco will face Juan Lebron and Leo Augsburger, who beat Juan Tello and Maxi Arce 6-3 3-6 6-2. The other semi-final will see Garrido and De Pascual take on Gonza Alfonso and Tino Libaak, who progressed after a 4-6 6-3 7-6 win over Jairo Bautista and Lucas Bergamini.

 

WOMEN There was another major upset in the women’s tournament, where Claudia Jensen and Tamara Icardo eliminated number 1 seeds Delfi Brea and Gemma Triay with a 6-3 3-6 6-1 victory. The win sends Jensen and Icardo into the semi-finals, where they will face another Claudia, Fernandez, and Martina Calvo. The match, the first of the day at 16:00 local time (13:00 CET), will follow Fernandez and Calvo’s 7-6 6-4 victory over Lorena Rufo and Victoria Iglesias on Court 1. In the bottom half of the draw, the favourites progressed as expected: Paula Josemaria and Bea Gonzalez, who beat Marina Guinart and Ale Alonso 6-3 6-1, will take on Ari Sanchez and Andrea Ustero, who defeated Raquel Eugenio and Jimena Velasco 6-2 6-3. A clash between world champions.