Belasteguin, Lima at the top of the world

Dubai: Fernando Belasteguin of Argentina and Pablo Lima of Brazil were crowned champions in the men’s competition as the inaugural Dubai Padel Masters concluded at the Nad Al Sheba (NAS) Sports Complex late on Saturday.

Referred as the ‘Messi and Neymar’ on the World Padel Tour (WPT), Belasteguin and Lima swept aside fourth-ranked Carlos Daniel Gutierrez and Juan Mieres Petruf 6-1, 6-2 to become the first-ever champions of the Dubai Padel Masters at a packed Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex.

Shaikh Mansour Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman, Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC) was the chief guest and presented the winners with their trophies in the presence of Humaid Al Qutami, Chairman and Director General, Dubai Health Authority and Chairman, Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services, Ebrahim Abdul Malik, General Secretary, General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare and Saeed Hareb, General Secretary, Dubai Sports Council.

Also present were Khalifa Yousuf Al Khoury, Chairman, Higher Organizing Committee and Mohammad Mubarak Al Mutaiwe’e, Deputy Chairman, Higher Organizing Committee along with Daniel Patti, President, International Padel Federation and Javier Porras, Director General, WPT.

Ranked number one in the world, the pair excelled in all departments giving very little chance to their opponents throughout the one and a half hour on court. “They were simply too good for us tonight. We tried, but all that we did on court was simply not enough,” Gutierrez told Gulf News.

Held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman, Dubai Sports Council, the Dubai Padel Masters was the seventh title this season for Belasteguin and the fifth one for his partner Lima.

Belasteguin is also compared to tennis great Roger Federer for reigning at the top of his sport. The Argentinean has been the world number one for the past 14 years, 13 of these in the company of Juan Martin Diaz. However, after teaming up with Brazilian Lima, they have gone unchallenged on the WPT so far.

“There is no secret in what we do. This success all boils down to the hard work we put on court each and every day,” Belasteguin said.

“Our next stop will be San Sebastian and then we will start preparing for the Masters final in Madrid in Dececmber,” he added.