Kuwait Major: Sintes and Zamora Stun Eighth Seeds, Coello/Tapia Up Next

The men's draw at the Kuwait Premier Padel Major has already lost two seeded pairs, and the round of 16 on Wednesday, October 28 features several teams that were not expected to get this far. The biggest shock came from Marc Sintes and Juan "Coquito" Zamora, who knocked out eighth seeds Jerónimo González and Lucas Campagnolo. Next for the top seeds Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia are Enrique Goenaga and Guillermo Collado, who caused an upset of their own.

Sintes and Zamora save a break point and turn the match

The young Spanish pair beat González and Campagnolo 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 on Monday at The Arena Kuwait. According to Italian outlet Agimeg, the deciding moment came late in the third set. Trailing 4-5, Sintes and Zamora saved a break point and then won three games in a row to finish the match. Spanish sites Padeladdict and El Neverazo both called it the result of the day.

The loss is a costly one for González and Campagnolo at this point in the season. Agimeg points out that it could also open the door for other pairs chasing the last places at the season-ending Finals, such as Juan Tello and Maximiliano Arce. Tello and Arce made it through to the round of 16 themselves on Tuesday, but needed three sets to beat Mario Ortega and Adam Axelsson 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

Monday also brought a second upset. Pol Hernández and Castaño beat 15th seeds José Jiménez and Alejandro Arroyo 6-3, 6-3. Franco Stupaczuk and Jon Sanz beat Andrés Fernández and José Diestro 6-2, 7-6. Francisco Navarro and Martín Di Nenno beat Montiel and Santigosa 6-2, 6-3.

Goenaga and Collado hold their nerve in a tiebreak

On Tuesday it was Goenaga and Collado's turn. They beat seeded pair Javier Garrido and De Pascual 6-2, 7-6. Padel Spain praised how calm they stayed in the tense second-set tiebreak, writing that the pair had "turned the warnings about seeds falling into reality".

Their win earns them the hardest draw possible. Coello and Tapia started their tournament on the same day with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Abbate and Dal Bianco that, according to Padeladdict, took only 54 minutes. The world's best pair are already the clear favourites in Kuwait, and they will be even stronger favourites now that Alejandro Galán and Federico Chingotto have withdrawn from the event because of Galán's injury.

The other seeded men's pairs also got through on Tuesday, though not all of them easily. Juan Lebrón and Leandro Augsburger beat Belluati and Abud 6-4, 6-3. Jorge Nieto and Miguel Yanguas had to go to three sets against Solano and Pereyra, winning 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Jairo Bautista and Lucas Bergamini beat Capra and Sánchez 7-6, 6-3, and Eduardo Alonso and Aimar Goñi beat González and Cabeza 7-5, 6-1.

Kuwait Major: Libaak and Alfonso Topple Lebrón and Augsburger

Wednesday's men's round of 16

Play at The Arena Kuwait starts at 10:00 Spanish time, and the women's top four seeds play their first matches of the tournament. These are the men's round-of-16 matches:

Javier García / Alejandro Ruiz vs Marc Sintes / Juan Zamora
Eduardo Alonso / Aimar Goñi vs Francisco Guerrero / Javier Leal
Jon Sanz / Franco Stupaczuk vs Iñigo Jofre / Juanlu Esbrí
Valentino Libaak / Gonzalo Alfonso vs Juan Lebrón / Leandro Augsburger
Martín Di Nenno / Francisco Navarro vs Pol Hernández / Castaño
Jairo Bautista / Lucas Bergamini vs Jorge Nieto / Miguel Yanguas
Juan Tello / Maximiliano Arce vs Perino / Domínguez
Arturo Coello / Agustín Tapia vs Enrique Goenaga / Guillermo Collado

Coello and Tapia play the last match on centre court, starting no earlier than 18:00 Spanish time. The top seeds have not dropped a set yet. Goenaga and Collado will need another big performance to stop them reaching the quarter-finals.