The upsets continued on the Round of 16 day at the Emaar Dubai Premier Padel P1. In the men’s draw, Flavio Abbate-Franco Dal Bianco (#30) won the underdogs clash against Albert Roglan-Manuel Aragón, who had come through qualifying and knocked out fourth seeds Paquito Navarro-Martín Di Nenno. Juani De Pascual-Javi Garrido (#14) also pulled off an upset, defeating Mike Yanguas-Coki Nieto (#5), one of the title contenders.

Meanwhile, all four top seeds made winning starts in the women’s draw, while Jimena Velasco-Raquel Eugenio (#13) stunned Martita Ortega-Sofia Araújo (#5). The fifth seeds suffered their first defeat before the quarter-finals since joining forces in late July.

Dal Bianco Records His Best Result alongside abbate

The Argentine backhand-side player will compete in the quarter-finals for the first time with Italian player Abbate to overcome one of the breakout teams of the tournament. Roglan-Aragón can nevertheless be proud of their campaign, having reached the Round of 16 after starting out in qualifying.

Dal Bianco-Abbate secured a 7-6, 6-3 victory in one hour and 25 minutes. Their reward is a quarter-final clash against the formidable Lucas Campagnolo-Momo González (#7), who have their sights set on this tournament as they look to qualify for the Finals. Abbate will be playing in his second quarter-final of the season, having previously reached this stage at the Madrid P1 alongside Álvaro Montiel.

Meanwhile, Juani De Pascual and Javi Garrido produced an impressive performance against fifth seeds Nieto-Yanguas to book their place in the last eight. The tournament’s No. 14 seeds came out on top after winning two tie-breaks, 7-6, 3-6, 7-6, against the recent world champions with the Spanish national team. It will be their second quarter-final together, following their run at the Milano P1, where they defeated Di Nenno-Navarro also in the Round of 16.

Another of the day’s battles saw Jairo Bautista-Lucas Bergamini (#11) come from behind to defeat sixth seeds Javi Leal-Fran Guerrero. They dropped the opening set 6-1 and were trailing 2-4 in the second, but it was when they found themselves up against it that they produced their best padel, turning the match around to claim a 7-5, 6-3 victory. 

On Friday, they will have the chance to reach the semi-finals against Argentina’s world championship runners-up, Tino Libaak-Gonza Alfonso (#11), who have now reached this stage for the fifth consecutive time.

Velasco-Eugenio Break into the Quarter-Finals

In the women’s draw, spectators at the Hamdan Sports Complex had the chance to see all four of the Tour’s top-ranked teams in action.

World No. 1s Gemma Triay-Delfi Brea got the day underway with a convincing straight-sets victory over Marta Talaván-Sofía Saiz (#19), winning 6-3, 6-1. Triay and Brea, who faced each other in the FIP World Cup final in Qatar just a few days ago, have their sights firmly set on this tournament. If they lift the trophy, they will put themselves in a very strong position to retain their No. 1 ranking.

Ari Sánchez-Andrea Ustero (#3) took to the court immediately afterwards and recorded the fastest victory of the day in the women’s draw. They showed their excellent form against Letizia Manquillo-Lucía Sainz (#17), winning 6-0, 6-4 in exactly one hour.

Paula Josemaría-Bea González (#2) also came through their match against Verónica Virseda-Martina Fassio (#10), claiming a 6-3, 6-1 win. Meanwhile, Martina Calvo-Claudia Fernández (#4) had to work harder to overcome Jessica Castelló-Laia Rodríguez (#16). Despite putting up a fight, the latter were unable to cause an upset against the Prodigy Girls, who eventually prevailed 7-6, 6-4.

The standout win of the day belonged to Jimena Velasco-Raquel Eugenio. The young Spanish team, with a combined age of just 40, had to come from a set down after losing the opener 4-6 to reach the quarter-finals for the second time, following their run at the Milano P1.

Their level continued to rise despite trailing on the scoreboard, and they eventually completed the comeback with a 6-4, 6-3 victory in the longest match of the day, lasting two hours and eight minutes. On Friday, they face a tough test against Ustero-Sánchez, who will take to the court knowing that they need to win the Dubai P1 title on Sunday to close the gap on the world No. 1 spot in the FIP Rankings.