5th december – “Freed from Desire,” the Gala’s hit that has been igniting stadiums all over the world for years, had become “Paquito is on fire” in May at the Foro Italico. Paquito Navarro didn’t win the Rome Major (Galan and Lebron won it), but the title of most-hailed player by the public went – by acclamation – to one of those champions who, when on a good day and feeling the people’s cheering, is a one-man show kind of guy. The people on social media, who are populating the pages of Milan Premier Padel P1 these days, have already elected their king: with 506 thousand followers on Instagram, Paquito surpasses even legend Fernando Belasteguín (who still fights back with his 364 thousand followers) and the world’s number one couple. Juan Lebron, in fact, “stops” at 387 thousand, with partner Ale Galan right behind with 336 thousand. Martin Di Nenno comes close to 200 thousand (he is at 191k), and lines up other greats such as Juan Tello (128k), Federico Chingotto (125k) and Arturo Coello, who – with his teammate Belasteguín – won the Major in Mexico and is amazingly increasing his popularity, also thanks to the pull of “Bela,” reaching 116 thousand.
Among the Italians, the leader is Simone Cremona, Marco Cassetta’s teammate, now facing Lorenzo Di Giovanni and Daniele Cattaneo in the first round of the derby. Cremona, who is close to 19 thousand followers, has created his own website, where stand out photos in elegant dress with a padel racquet in hand: a mix of sport and glamour. Cattaneo, on the other hand, delights his 8300 followers with a series of video tutorials on how to improve one’s technique. Shot preparation, leg and racket position: reels to view on your smartphone and movements to imitate on the court. A master 2.0, ready to take the field of the Allianz Cloud arena.