The main draw of the CUPRA Germany Premier Padel P2 in Düsseldorf opened on Tuesday with an upset straight away. Juan Tello and Maximiliano Arce, playing their first tournament together, beat eighth seeds Jerónimo "Momo" González and Lucas Campagnolo 7-5, 7-6 in the round of 32. On the same day, a pair who had already lost in qualifying won their way into the last 16.
A first outing that hit hard
González and Campagnolo came to Germany in good form. Last week they reached the semi-finals of the Rotterdam P2, beating Martín Di Nenno and Francisco Navarro along the way. In Düsseldorf they couldn't find that level against the new Argentine partnership. Tello and Arce took a tight first set 7-5. The second went to a tie-break, which they won 8-6, and the eighth seeds were out on day one.
The result mattered off the court too. It was Campagnolo's first tournament since he announced on Monday that his 12-year partnership with Drop Shot was over. Padel Magazine reported that the Brazilian played in Nike clothing and used an all-black racket with no visible branding. For Tello and Arce, the win gives them an early boost as the season enters its last stretch, with qualification for the Premier Padel Finals still to be decided.
Montiel and Santigosa make the most of a second chance
Álvaro Montiel and Daniel Santigosa had the most unusual route through. They lost in qualifying to Clément Geens and Nacho Moragues 6-3, 6-7, 6-2, so their tournament looked finished. Then Jorge Nieto pulled out to recover from physical problems, and his partner Miguel Yanguas went with him. That opened lucky-loser spots in the main draw.
Montiel and Santigosa made full use of it. They beat tenth seeds Lucas Bergamini and Jairo Bautista 7-5, 7-6, winning the second-set tie-break 9-7. According to Padel Addict, this is the second P2 in a row where they have reached the last 16, after doing the same in Rotterdam. Next they play Carlos Daniel "Sanyo" Gutiérrez and Maximiliano Sánchez Blasco. The veterans dropped only one game after the first set in a 7-6, 6-1 win over David Gala and Enzo Jensen.
Navarro and Di Nenno bounce back, Garrido starts well
Fifth seeds Martín Di Nenno and Francisco Navarro recovered from their Rotterdam quarter-final loss. They beat the young Spanish pair Aimar Goñi and Eduardo Alonso 6-4, 6-4. Their next opponents are Pol Hernández and Manuel Castaño, who beat José Jiménez and Alejandro Arroyo 6-3, 6-2.
Javier Garrido and Juani De Pascual won their first Premier Padel match as a team. They beat Alejandro Ruiz and Javier García in straight sets and earned a much harder match next: a round-of-16 meeting with Alejandro Galán and Federico Chingotto. Tello and Arce will face the winner of Javier Barahona and Ignacio Piotto against Geens and Moragues, the pair who had knocked Montiel and Santigosa out of qualifying.
Wednesday: second half of the round of 32 and the women's start
The rest of the men's round of 32 is played on Wednesday, and the women's main draw begins. Play starts at 09:00 Spanish time. Two men's matches stand out. Gonzalo Alfonso and Valentino Libaak play Francisco Guerrero and Javier Leal, and Íñigo Jofre and Juanlu Esbrí play Enrique Goenaga and Guillermo Collado. In the women's draw, Lorena Rufo and Victoria Iglesias open on centre court against Giorgia Marchetti and Lara Arruabarrena. Later, Carolina Orsi and Patricia Llaguno play Marta Borrero and Teresa Navarro. The men's round of 16 starts on Thursday.
