Powerhouses Spain and Argentina reach DP World Padel Championship semi-finals
Brazil and France suffer upset losses in men and women’s quarter-finals
Dubai: Padel’s powerhouses Spain and Argentina reached the semi-finals of the DP World Padel Championship 2022. The world No. 1 ranked Spain routed Chile 2-0 while Argentina breezed past Paraguay 2-0 at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium. The finals of both the men and women’s competitions will take place on Saturday.
Spain’s Jeronimo Gonzalez and Francisco Navarro secured a straight-set win against Cristobal Martinez and Claudio Santibanez.
Later, Alejandro Galan and Miguel Yanguas defeated Ignacio Lehyt and Javier Valdes 6-1, 6-2 as the defending champions confirmed their spot in the last four of the competition.
Strong start
For a place in final, Spain will square off against France, who battled past Belgium 2-1.
Making strong start, Adrien Maigret and Benjamin Tison swept aside Maxime Deloyer and Laurent Montoisy 6-1, 6-2. Belgium’s Clement Geens and Jerome Peeters turned the tables in the second after winning the game 6-3, 6-2 against Jeremy Scatena and Bergeron Johan.
In a close third match, in-form Bastien Blanque and Thomas Leygue wrapped the match after thrilling two sets. The Belgians Jeremy Gala and Alec Witmeur had their chances in the tiebreak of the first leg where they were leading 5-1. In the second, the French pair fended off the challenge by winning the game 6-4.
Argentina, who are looking to reclaim the title they lost to Spain at last year’s World Padel Championships in Doha, dominated the quarter-final against Paraguay.
Incredible comeback
Federico Chingotto and Agustin Tapia thrashed Martin Abu and Santiago Castaneyra, winning both sets 6-0, 6-1 before Martin Di Nenno and Franco Stupaczuk notched a 6-3, 6-1 victory against Jose Benitez and Carlos Miltos.
Argentina will next face Portugal, who reached the semi-finals after a stunning 2-1 win over Brazil.
Portugal made an incredible comeback in the match after losing the first set, thanks to brothers Miguel Deus and Nuno Deus. The Deus duo beat Francisco Gomes and Marcello Jardim 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.
Brazil were expected to win the decider with their major stars and Pablo Lima and Lucas Cunha taking. They started well and won the first set 6-3 against Miguel Oliveira and Afonso Ramos. Bouncing back, Oliveira and Ramos won the second set 6-4 before winning the third 7-5 to dash the hope of Samba boys.
Biggest upset
In the women’s competition, reigning champions Spain, Argentina, Italy and Belgium reached the semi-finals. Spain beat Portugal 3-0, Belgium stunned France 2-1, Italy defeated Germany 3-0, and Argentina blanked Sweden 3-0.
Belgium’s dramatic win over France was the biggest upset of the women’s quarter-finals. The match ended 2-1, and in the deciding match, Elyne Boeykens and Dorien Cuypers won in three sets against the French Amelie Detriviere and Melissa Martin, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.
Sheikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Bin Juma Al Maktoum, President of the UAE Padel Association and Chairman of the Higher Organising Committee, visited the championship village and watched the matches.
Sheikh Saeed was accompanied by Ismail Al Hashimi, second vice-President of the UAEPA and member of the Higher Committee, along with members of the Organising Committee Abdul Karim Al Arif, Awatif Al Suwaidi, Hassan Al Mazrouei, Director of the Championship and Issa Al Marzouqi, Deputy Director of the Championship.