Dubai: Shaikh Saeed Al Maktoum and Mohammad Al Janahi will take on Cesar Herreros and Albert Gual while Raul Cuesta and Jacobo Calderon will play Xavier Masson and Asier, respectively, in the opening round of qualifiers for the Dubai Padel Masters at the Nad Al Sheba (NAS) Sports Complex on Thursday.

Both matches will start at 6pm with Shaikh Saeed and Al Janahi taking on Herreros and Gual on Court No. 3, while Cuesta and Calderon will play Masson and Asier on Court No. 4.

A total of five matches will take place on the opening day of the qualifiers, with Omar Sharif and Javier Molina playing Juan De Dios and Oriol Guiu and Thomas Praming while Alan Douglas and Thomas Praming will be up against Ahmad Hussain and Ahmad Al Ketbi in the next two matches on Court No. 3.

Ammar Al Hamdani and Javier Moreno will cross swords with Jordi Hernandez and Carlos Luna in the second match on Court No. 4.

As per regulations, the top four pairs from the 21 registered have been given a direct bye round along with another seven pairs who have been seeded based on recent domestic tournament results and rankings.

The qualifying process will get under way on Thursday with the balance ten pairs of players involved in a preliminary round of matches. The winners will advance to the next stage of qualifying on Friday against the pairs who have been given a bye in the first round.

Organised by the UAE PA, the qualifiers will go on until Saturday evening after which the press conference for the main draw will be held.

The qualifiers for the Dubai Padel Masters have been divided into two separate rounds. The first round was conducted at the Sanset Padel Club in Madrid last month and at the end of it eight international pairs in the men’s and women’s sections have advanced to the next stage.

While the four pairs of women from Madrid have made it directly into the main draw in Dubai, the four men’s pairs from the Madrid qualifiers will go through a one-off match against the four best pairs on October 24.

Gonzalo Rubio/Aris Patiniotis, Lucas Cunha/Toni Bueno, Raul Diaz Garcia/Raul Marcos Duran and Juan Cruz Belluati/Ignacio Gonzalez Gadea are the four pairs travelling to Dubai as the four qualifiers, while Alicia Berl/Patricia Mowbray, Gabriela Bartomioli/Isabel Dominguez, Lilian Ramos/Angela Caro and Andrea Jareno/Tamara Icardo are the four qualifiers from the women’s category.