Five months ago, at the Foro Italico, Alejandra Salazar’s hand had only drawn the pairings of the women’s draw for the BNL Italy Major Premier Padel in Rome, the first ‘Combined’ tournament in the history of Premier Padel. She couldn’t play it, Salazar, due to injury. In Milan, however, one of the strongest players ever is there, and paired with Portugal’s Sofia Araujo, she wants to reach the final. The debut was successful, with Salazar and Araujo, number four seed on the draw, defeating Marina Martinez Lobo and Carolina Navarro Bjork with a score of 6-3 6-0, in one hour and 15 minutes. “The first time here in Milan for me is incredible – Salazar said –. The feeling is great, the court is beautiful and an excellent job has been done”. While waiting to return to the court on Thursday in the round of 16, tomorrow Salazar and Araujo can enjoy a walk around Milan: “I hope to get to know the city better”, jokes Alejandra.
A good debut at the Milano Premier Padel P1 also for Momo Gonzalez and Javi Garrido, the number 7 seed in the men’s draw, who beat 6-2 6-3 Pablo Lijo and Alvaro Cepero. In the post-match interview, there was the second victory, the one at the microphone, with Gonzalez and Garrido performing a few words of Italian (“Grazie a tutti per essere qui”), but above all singing the refrain of ‘Sarà perché ti amo’, a historic italian hit by Ricchi e Poveri. They did well, as they did on the court: in the round of 16, the duel with Lucas Campagnolo and Juanlu Esbri (15), who defeated 3-6 7-6 6-3 Benitez Lara/Rico in a two and a half hour battle. Tamara Icardo and Maria Virginia Riera (5) also did well on the Centre Court, with a 6-2 double over Collombon/Rufo Ortiz. The first surprise of the tournament, however, came from court number 1, with the lost of Luciano Capra and Alex Chozas, the number 12 seed in the men’s draw, beaten 6-1 7-6 by Jaime Munoz and Jairo Bautista.