Javi Garrido and Juani De Pascual (#16) will remember this day at the Oysho Milano Premier Padel P1 after ending Thursday’s action by eliminating one of the most in-form teams in the men’s draw: the fifth seeds Paquito Navarro and Martín Di Nenno.

In the women’s draw, the top four pairs all secured victories to book their places in the quarter-finals, where there will be no Italian players after Giulia Dal Pozzo and Carolina Orsi were eliminated alongside their respective partners.

Garrido - De Pascual Rise to the Occasion at the Allianz Cloud

The No. 16 seeds produced an impressive attacking display at the Milano P1 to defeat Di Nenno - Navarro, who for only the second time in the last 12 tournaments will not compete in the quarter-finals. Their previous early exit came at the Pretoria P1, where they also lost in the Round of 16 to Álex Ruiz and Javier García.

Garrido and De Pascual took control from the very first point, and their confidence on the court was reflected in a surprising 6-2, 6-3 scoreline in just 1 hour and 24 minutes. However, their opponents did fight back in the closing stages, saving several match points before the victory was finally sealed by the 16th seeds.

With this win, Garrido defeated Paquito Navarro in an official match for the first time. El Khalifa will return to the quarter-finals on Tour for the first time in more than four months, having last reached this stage at the Italy Major alongside Lucas Bergamini. De Pascual, meanwhile, will also return to the quarter-finals after more than five months, having last featured at this stage at the Asunción P2 alongside Alonso Rodríguez.

The Italian Dream Comes to an End

The participation of Italy’s two highest-ranked women in the FIP Ranking, Dal Pozzo (#25) and Orsi (#31), came to an end in the Round of 16.

Legendary Alejandra Salazar and her partner Aranza Osoro (#8) produced a solid performance in the opening session to defeat Italian gem Julia Dal Pozzo and Spain's Nuria Rodríguez (#12) in a key clash in both teams’ bid to qualify for the Qatar Airways Premier Padel Tour Finals.

A 6-4, 6-2 victory in 1 hour and 35 minutes booked their place in the quarter-finals. That means Salazar will remain in her final tournament as a professional player on Italian soil for at least one more day, with the Spanish set to retire at the end of the season.

Immediately afterwards, Italy's Carolina Orsi and Patty Llaguno took to the court but were unable to avoid defeat against the promising Raquel Eugenio and Jimena Velasco (#13). The young Spanish team won 6-3, 7-5 to reach their first quarter-finals together. Eugenio had previously reached this stage at the Valladolid P2 alongside Martina Fassio, while Velasco did so alongside Marta Barrera.

WINNING DEBUTS FOR TOP SEEDS

The top four women’s pairs delivered on their winning debuts and will be in action at the Allianz Cloud on Friday.

World No. 1s Gemma Triay and Delfi Brea comfortably defeated Caldera-Cánovas (#10), who teamed up following the injury-enforced withdrawal of Carmen Goenaga, Caldera’s regular partner. Meanwhile, Bea González and Paula Josemaría had to dig deep to continue their run in the tournament, coming from behind to defeat Iglesias-Rufo (#11), who produced a high-level performance (6-7, 6-3, 6-2).

Third seeds Ariana Sánchez and Andrea Ustero won against Araceli Martínez and Lucía Martínez (#18) 6-3, 6-2 in the opening match of the day, while the recently crowned Germany P2 champions, Martina Calvo and Claudia Fernández (#4), recorded the same scoreline against Castelló-Rodríguez (#16).

Milan Gets Ready for the Quarter-Finals

The Italian crowd can look forward to a thrilling quarter-final day, with play getting underway at 9:00 a.m. CEST. Here is Friday 16 October’s order of play:

9:00 a.m. CEST

Triay - Brea (#1) vs Velasco - Eugenio (#13)

Followed by

Salazar - Osoro (#8) vs Sánchez - Ustero (#3)

Followed by

Agustín Tapia - Arturo Coello (#1) vs Fran Guerrero - Javi Leal (#6)

3:00 p.m. CEST

Momo González - Lucas Campagnolo (#8) vs Jon Sanz - Franco Stupaczuk (#4)

Not before 6:00 p.m. CEST

Tamara Icardo - Claudia Jensen (#6) vs Josemaría - González (#2)

Not before 6:00 p.m. CEST

Fernández - Calvo (#4) vs Sofia Araújo - Marta Ortega (#5)

Followed by

Tino Libaak - Gonza Alfonso (#15) vs Ale Galán - Fede Chingotto (#2)

Followed by

Juan Lebrón - Leo Augsburger (#3) vs Garrido - De Pascual (#16)