Ale Salazar is experiencing the ‘last dance’ of her extraordinary career exactly as she would have wanted. Not travelling the world as a tourist and receiving farewell applause, but competing point by point at every tournament. Ale has won everything there is to win, yet this morning she was still at the Allianz Cloud gym, working on her fitness and preparing for her debut at the Oysho Milano Premier Padel P1, her final tournament in Italy before leaving the circuit. The appointment is set: partnering ‘Vikinga’ Aranzazu Osoro, Salazar will make her debut on Tuesday at 9.30 a.m. on the Centre Court, opening the day’s schedule against Frenchwoman Alix Collombon and Russia’s Ksenia Sharifova.
A testament to her continued competitiveness and determination to perform at the highest level, Salazar has reached three finals on the CUPRA FIP Tour in 2026, at almost 41 years of age (she will celebrate her birthday on 31 December). Two came at Platinum level, in Marseille and Tirana, and one at the FIP Gold in Belgrade. Milan, meanwhile, holds a special place in her heart. In 2023, at the first edition of the P1 to feature a combined men’s and women’s event, she reached the final alongside Sofia Araujo before losing to Delfi Brea and Bea Gonzalez. In the past two seasons, her campaign ended in the quarter-finals on Friday, but on both occasions she was beaten by the pair that would go on to win the tournament: Triay/Fernandez in 2024 and Sanchez/Josemaria in 2025.
Just four days ago, meanwhile, ‘Ale’ and ‘Zazu’ produced an incredible victory in Düsseldorf after a marathon lasting more than three and a half hours against Araceli and Lucia Martinez, proving that beating her still requires an enormous amount of effort. In Madrid, her home city, the tribute to her career between the women’s and men’s finals was an emotional moment, with Ale unable to hold back her tears. The stage is now set for another farewell at the Allianz Cloud. Salazar, however, hopes that moment will come as late as possible.