The opening day of the Decathlon Rotterdam Premier Padel P1 featured what was billed as “Dutch Day”, with a strong local crowd filling Centre Court to support the country’s top players. Four all-Dutch pairs – three men’s and one women’s – showcased their talent in front of their home fans, though none were able to progress beyond the first round. The closest breakthrough came from Julian Prins and Youp De Kroon, who made history as the first Dutch duo to win a set on home soil at Premier Padel level. They took the opener against Cristian Gutiérrez and Renzo Núñez before the Argentine pair recovered to seal their passage to the Round of 32.
In the women’s draw, Marta Ortega and Tamara Icardo carried the momentum from their semifinal run in Germany into Rotterdam, but faced a demanding first-round challenge against one of the season’s surprise packages, Bea Caldera and Carmen Goenaga. The Spanish pair, themselves finalists earlier this year, pushed the No. 5 seeds to a tight opening set that was only resolved in a tiebreak. From there, Ortega and Icardo raised their level and controlled the second set to secure a 7-6(3), 6-3 victory and advance to the Round of 16.
The teams immediately behind Ortega and Icardo in the rankings also made strong starts to their campaigns in Rotterdam. Claudia Jensen and Alejandra Alonso opened proceedings on Centre Court with a composed performance, dominating the first set before holding their ground against the resistance of Sofía Saiz and Marta Talaván to clinch a 6-2, 6-4 win. Soon after, Alejandra Salazar and Martina Calvo underlined their authority with a commanding display against Carla Mesa and Sara Ruiz, showing no signs of weakness and needing just over an hour to secure their place in the last 16 with a 6-1, 6-2 victory.
It was a day of surprises in the men’s draw, where the advantage of having already played on the Rotterdam courts proved decisive. The qualifiers staged a true rebellion, with six of the eight teams advancing to the Round of 32 – the maximum could only have been seven due to one all-qualifier clash. Among the standout performances, young Juani Rubini and Alonso Rodríguez produced one of the day’s most notable wins, closing out the evening session by overcoming the Deus brothers. After dropping a tight opening-set tiebreak, the Spanish pair rallied with determination to claim a hard-fought 6-7(7), 7-5, 6-2 victory against the solid Portuguese team.
Tomorrow marks the turn of the men’s seeds to step onto court, as the top pairs prepare to take centre stage in Rotterdam. World No. 1s Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia, along with Federico Chingotto and Alejandro Galán, are all set to begin their campaigns. The day’s main storyline, however, will be the debut of several new partnerships in the men’s draw, including Paquito Navarro with Jon Sanz, Javi Leal with Lucas Bergamini, and Fran Guerrero with Momo González. An elite schedule awaits, with the men’s second round and the women’s last 16 both getting underway.
