The second visit of the Premier Padel circuit to Spain was, just as in Seville, a huge success. Thousands of fans attended throughout the week at Martin Capena, clearly demonstrating that Spain continues to be the world capital of padel.
ARI SANCHEZ AND PAULA JOSÉMARIA WIN THEIR 32ND TITLE AND MATCH MAPI AND MAJO ALAYETO'S RECORD
Although padel is still a relatively “young” sport, certain numbers have already become part of its history, and 32 is one of them. Until yesterday, only the "Atomic Twins" had managed to achieve that number of international titles, but as of last Sunday, Ari Sanchez and Paula Josemaría, the undisputed leaders of the world ranking, also reached that mark. With a great comeback, Ari and Paula defeated Gemma Triay and Claudia Fernandez 1-6, 6-4, 6-2, securing their fifth title of 2024.
TAPIA AND COELLO "AVENGE" GENOA DEFEAT
Unsurprisingly, the P1 final in Málaga once again saw Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia face off against Fede Chingotto and Ale Galan, marking the ninth encounter between these two pairs this year. Unlike in Genoa, where “Chigalan” defeated the “Golden Boys” in less than an hour, the roles were reversed in Málaga with an easy victory for Coello and Tapia. The 6-3 and 6-2 sets demonstrate the superiority of the world's No. 1 duo in the Andalusian tournament.
PORTUGUESE PLAYERS IN MÁLAGA
Sofia Araújo arrived in Andalusia with high confidence after her title win in Genoa the previous week but did not get past the quarterfinals, ultimately losing to the experienced duo of Lucia Sainz and Patty Llaguno, one of the most consistent pairs on the circuit in 2024. Ana Catarina Nogueira could not get past the first round, losing in three sets to Jessica Castelló and Claudia Jensen, in what was one of the best performances of the year for Ana Catarina and Marta Talavan. Patrícia Ribeiro returned to the main draw of a Premier Padel event after surpassing two qualifying rounds but fell in the first round to Lea Godallier and Giorgia Marchetti.
In the men's competition, we saw the return of António Luque to the world’s best circuit, achieving his best result of the year. The Portuguese, alongside Facundo Dominguez, got past the opening round, only to be eliminated in the round of 32 by Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia. The Málaga event will go down in history for national champions Miguel and Nuno Deus, as it was the first Premier Padel tournament they contested as a duo. Miguel and Nuno advanced past the qualifying phase but eventually lost in the first round to Marc Quilez and Miguel Semmler.
THE LAST DANCE
The P1 in Málaga marked the end of some partnerships on the world circuit, which will lead to major changes starting from the P2 in Finland at the end of July. Thus, Paquito/Lebron, Di Nenno/Stupaczuk, Momo Gonzalez/Alex Ruiz, Mike Yanguas/Javi Garrido, and Javi Ruiz/Pablo Cardona had their “last dance” in the Andalusian tournament.