Premier Padel, the only professional circuit in the world governed by the FIP, International Padel Federation, returns to South America for three consecutive stages: Asunción (Paraguay), Mar del Plata (Argentina), and Santiago (Chile). This comes after the first two European stages in Brussels and Sevilla. The main draw matches will take place on Tuesday following the conclusion of the qualifiers, with the P2 round taking place in the capital of Paraguay, which previously played home to a significant event in November, the FIP Juniors World Padel Championships. The tournament will take place at the ueno SND Arena.
Men’s draw
Ale Galan and Fede Chingotto, who will start the men’s draw as the number two seed, will defend their two titles back-to-back before taking on a new pairing in the form of Javier Martinez and Antonio “Pincho” Fernandez. Victor Ruiz and Lucas Bergamini will be the first-round opponents for Arturo Coello, who leads the FIP rankings, and Agustin Tapia. Paquito Navarro and Juan Lebron, seeded number three and drawn at the top, are still chasing their first final together. Similar to Coello and Tapia, they will make their debut against Ivan Ramirez (ranked number 42 in the FIP ranking) and José Jimenez (85). Coming from their first season final in Seville, Franco Stupaczuk and Martin Di Nenno are ranked fourth in the rankings. The Argentine “Superpibes” will face Juan Cruz Belluati and Miguel Lamperti, who narrowly lost to Coello/Tapia in Brussels. The quarterfinals, if they exist, are as follows: Stupaczuk/Di Nenno (4)-Sanchez/Gutierrez (8), Coello/Tapia (1)-Yanguas/Garrido (6), Tello/Belasteguin (5)-Navarro/Lebron (3), Gonzalez/Ruiz (7)-Chingotto/Galan (2).
Women’s draw
Delfi Brea and Bea Gonzalez are coming off a hat-trick of victories in Puerto Cabello, Brussels, and Sevilla, while Chingotto and Galan are coming off of two victories in a row. The top four seeds in the 28-pair Asunción draw will advance directly to the round of 16, just like in the other P2s. Brea/Gonzalez will play either Rodriguez/Rodriguez Abajo or Sharifova/Martinez. Paula Josemaria and Ari Sanchez, who continue to lead the FIP ranking, are paired with Canovas/Velasco and Rufo/Caldera. Alejandra Salazar and Tamara Icardo (4) face Casali/Soriano or a qualified, while number three Gemma Triay and Claudia Fernandez face a tricky debut against Osoro/Goenaga or a qualified pair.
