The Movistar Arena witnessed another unforgettable day during the semi-finals of the Comunidad de Madrid Premier Padel P1 by Oysho. More than 14,600 spectators witnessed an impressive comeback from second seeds Bea González and Paula Josemaría, who will play in Sunday’s final after coming back from 5-0 down in the deciding set against Martina Calvo and Claudia Fernández (#4).
Tomorrow, they will face Gemma Triay and Delfi Brea (#1), who dominated against Ari Sánchez and Andrea Ustero (#3). On the other draw, Ale Galán and Fede Chingotto defeated one of the tournament’s breakthrough duos, Íñigo Jofre and Jairo Bautista (#15), and will face Mike Yanguas and Coki Nieto (#5), who will play their first final as a pair after defeating Gonza Alfonso and Tino Libaak (#17).
Triay and Brea opened the day with a dominant victory over Ari Sánchez and Andrea Ustero, the third seeds and Riyadh P1 and Valencia P1 champions.
The game, expected to be a close one, began to swing in favor of the Spanish-Argentine duo, who produced an outstanding first set with just eight unforced errors to take the opening set 6-2. Solid in defense and aggressive at the net, their level only rised in the second set, getting a 5-0 lead. However, that was when Sánchez and Ustero’s strengths came out, as they secured two consecutive breaks to make it 5-4 and earn the chance to level the match with their serve.
It was at that moment, as Triay herself said, that she and her partner stepped up to decide the game: “At 5-4, we looked at each other and said: ‘Let’s enjoy this, we’re playing well.’” And that is exactly what they did. Having found calm in the storm, they quickly moved to 0-40 and did not let the opportunity to break slip away, securing their fifth consecutive final.
In the other women’s semifinal of the day, second-ranked Bea González and Paula Josemaría showed their remarkable resilience to win a match that appeared to be lost. Claudio Gilardoni’s players were 5-0 down in the deciding set against Martina Calvo and Claudia Fernández, champions of the London Premier Padel P1, but what happened next has already become part of padel history.
Perlamita somehow held on against all odds, saving three match points on their opponents’ serve at 5-3, 40-0. By believing and playing one more ball, the Spanish duo won seven straight games to send the Movistar Arena into a frenzy and book their place in the final against their biggest rivals, Triay and Brea.
“We were 5-0 down and all I felt was that I didn’t want to leave the court, that I was enjoying myself. I wanted to keep playing for another three hours, and the only way to do that was to keep running and believing in ourselves, and that’s what we did,” Bea said. On Sunday, she will be looking for her third title in the Spanish capital, having already won there in 2023 alongside Brea and last season with Fernández.
The only top-four duo still alive in the tournament got the job done against an impressive Bautista-Jofre (#15), who leave Madrid with an outstanding haul of 360 points after reaching their first Qatar Airways Premier Padel Tour semi-finals.
Chingalán did not concede a single break point throughout the match, securing victory in one hour and three minutes (6-3, 6-4). The MVP on the court was the ‘Ratón’, an expert defender who also showcased his attacking skills with a total of ten winners, five of them coming from the smash.
On Sunday, they will fight for what would be their seventh title of the season against Yanguas and Nieto, the fifth seeds who have achieved at this tournament what they failed to achieve throughout last season, when they played twelve semi-finals. Juanjo Gutiérrez’s players defeated Libaak and Alfonso (#17) in straight sets (6-4, 7-6) and head into Sunday’s final full of confidence after previously knocking out favorites Agustín Tapia and Arturo Coello in the quarterfinals.
“I had been working for a long time to try to reach this level. We’re finding an incredible momentum and playing as a team, which is what the top pairs do to win these kinds of matches. The first final with Coki has arrived, and we’re going to try to win the title for him at his home because he deserves it all,” Yanguas said after the match.
The Movistar Arena will host the thrilling Madrid P1 finals this Sunday from 4 p.m. (Spanish time). Here is the lineup:
Triay - Brea (#1) vs González - Josemaría (#2)
Galán - Chingotto (#2) vs Yanguas - Nieto (#5)
