On the first day of this season’s second Major, predictions were honored. All of the top players in the men’s main draw won their matches today at Foro Italico in Rome, although the women’s main draw is still pending. This allowed the players to advance to the BNL Italy Major Premier Padel Round of 32, where the top eight seeded players had already qualified.
RESULTS: Today’s men’s draw featured three seeded pairings, all of whom prevailed in straight sets. Edu Alonso and Alex Arroyo, who were ranked eleventh at Foro Italico and had advanced to the quarterfinals of four Premier Padel events this year (Riyadh, Qatar Major, Acapulco, and Santiago), defeated Guillermo Collado Losada and Javier Martinez, two of their fellow Spanish nationals, in two sets (6-2, 7-6). Javier Leal (13), and Lucas Campagnolo performed even better, giving up just three games against the Spanish players Rafael Mendez and Mario Del Castillo. Seeded number 14, Ramiro Moyano and Xisco Gil defeated the Italian duo of Michele Bruno and Simone Iacovino in a double 6-2 victory. Only one match proceeded to the third set, and that was the one in which fellow Spaniards Ferran Insa Sotillo/Roger Aromi lost against Spanish “pareja” Nacho Vilariño Gestoso/Miguel Semmler.
There will be five seeded participants in the men’s draw on Tuesday. The most anticipated matchup is between Coki Nieto and number nine seed Jon Sanz, who won the Betclic Bordeaux Premier Padel P2 last Sunday in France (for the first time). They will play a derby against Jairo Bautista and Francisco Guerrero as the fourth match on Center Court. As the tenth-seeded Lucas Bergamini and Victor Ruiz take on the Spanish qualifiers Pablo Castillo Valverde and Jose Roman Martinez in the first encounter on Court 6, expectations are similarly high for them. The first round matches for the women’s draw begin on Tuesday. The sixteen players that are seeded get a bye and will play on Wednesday.
