WPT Chile Padel Open: The quarter-finals are set as a storm of change blows
The second tournament of the South American stage continues as the quarter-finals are taking place this Friday from 1pm to midnight at the Universidad Católica de Chile, in what could be one of the last chances to watch several pairings play together.
The end of the journey of Paquito Navarro and Juan Tello as a team after achieving poor results at the start of the season will mean a succession of changes in several duos.
According to the Spanish newspaper Relevo, the Andalucian will play with Federico Chingotto and ‘El Gato’ with Álex Ruiz after the end of the Paraguay Padel Open that will take place next week.
Now, players like Momo González and Javi Garrido, ranked 14th and 19th, are looking for a new teammate and as a result other pairings will see their journey together ending, as the two backhand players are very attractive to team up with due to their high position in the ranking.
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The competition started this morning with two huge games and a shocking result in the women’s circuit.
Lucía Sainz and Aranza Osoro have made it into the semifinals for the first time this season after winning a tight game against Patricia Llaguno and Victoria Iglesias 6-4, 6-4.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG_xrqO3Gd8
On the other side, Jessica Castelló and 16-year-old Claudia Jensen have surprisingly defeated world number two Paula Josemaría and Ariana Sánchez 6-3, 7-6.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvdy1CryHi4
The favourites struggled in the first set, but they were winning the second 5-2. However, the confidence of Castelló and Jensen at the net, plus their ability to win long rallies, have been key to earn a spot in the semifinals, just like in the first tournament at Abu Dhabi. In that instance, they will have to compete against the experienced team formed of Osoro and Sanz.
Top ranked Alejandra Salazar and Gemma Triay, who won their first tournament last week in La Rioja, have secured their place in the next round after an outstanding win against Bárbara Las Heras and Verónica Virseda, who have now lost at this stage in the last three tournaments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfpGRzGbZbE
The favourites earned the first set 6-0 in just 33 minutes, with Las Heras and Virseda struggling at the back of the court defending. Afterwards, Triay and Salazar continued displaying their aggressive style and in just 30 minutes managed to win the second set 6-1.
Moreover, the promising team formed of Delfi Brea and Sofia Araujo won against Alix Collombon and Carla Mesa, who shocked number three Bea González and Marta Ortega yesterday in the round of sixteen, beating them 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kKTgVcmNTY
The Argentinian talent, together with the Portuguese, secured a solid win in just two sets (6-3, 6-1) and demonstrated that they could be a one-to-watch team this season. They will face Triay and Salazar tomorrow for a spot in the final.
On the men’s circuit, action took place this afternoon.
Fernández Cano and García Diestro, who managed to shock the padel world yesterday defeating fan favourites Paquito Navarro and Juan Tello, made another incredible effort to defeat Federico Chingotto and Javier Garrido 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. The latter will be playing with new teammates after the Paraguay Open and showed an inconsistent level to concede another loss earlier than expected in Chile.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiLcoqyZzvo
Cano and Diestro will fight to reach the final against top-ranked Alejandro Galán and Juan Lebrón, who managed to win against Javier González Baraona and García Mora 6-4, 6-4.
The Spanish pairing didn’t concede a break in the whole game and Galán showed a solid performance to respond in the pitch to the comments of Lisandro Borges, promoter of the La Rioja Padel Open, who accused him of using his chronic knee injury to avoid playing in the tournament last week. He said the following:
“I am very sad, it is deplorable. The Spaniards Alejandro Galán and Juan Lebrón, on the eve of the most important tournament in the history of the padel Argentinian, forfeited by inventing an injury.”
Galán suffers from a chronic injury (in his knee), so he chooses which tournaments he wants to participate in or not. He did the same last year in Mexico. After playing in Buenos Aires, he invented an injury. It is very sad to boycott in this way the padel Argentinian but also worldwide.”
They don’t care about padel Argentinian, and people who paid their entrance and the trip to come and see the world number 1 in La Rioja. It shows us the lack of ethics and morals they have.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZwMg6tlE9w
The most attractive game of the day took place afterwards, as the Superpibes Franco Stupaczuk and Martín Di Nenno competed against a reliable team formed of Maxi Sánchez and Lucas Campagnolo.
The Argentinian duo didn’t give a chance to the latter, as they won 6-3, 6-2, to achieve a spot in their third consecutive semifinals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R75Qi-6XTqs
The last game of the day faced the most in-form team in World Padel Tour at the moment, as Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia took on the Argentinian Lucho Capra and Agustín Gutiérrez.
The youth team struggled to win the first set 7-6 as the Argentinian pairing had accuracy on volleys and smashes. But in the second, they overwhelmed their rivals after two consecutive breaks and ended winning 6-2.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9euNCqjSQw
They have won the first two tournaments of the season, silencing the doubts of some padel experts who thought that it was too early to see both, aged 19 and 23, teaming up to fight for the number one. However, if they manage to win their third of the course, they will take a lot of advantage in the ranking and the crown of Alejandro Galán and Juan Lebrón could be at risk.
They will face the ‘Superpibes’ tomorrow in the semifinal.
