Madrid P1 R16: Salazar Faces Rufo in Farewell City Showdown

Octavos Day Opens at Movistar Arena

Thursday is round-of-16 day at the Comunidad de Madrid Premier Padel P1 by Oysho. Starting at 9:00 a.m., the three courts at Movistar Arena host eight matches — four in the men's draw and four in the women's — that will settle Friday's quarterfinal line-up. All matches today are live and free on the official Premier Padel YouTube channel; from the quarterfinals onwards, coverage in Spain switches to Red Bull TV and Movistar Plus. With the Alpine Paris Major beginning its qualifying round at Roland-Garros on Sunday, the ranking points at stake today carry added weight for every pair still in the draw.

Salazar vs Rufo: The Day's Defining Match

Alejandra Salazar and Aranza Osoro face Lorena Rufo and Victoria Iglesias in a round-of-16 match that goes well beyond its bracket placement. Salazar, 40 years old and in her final professional season, scraped through her previous match against Leti Manquillo and Lucía Martínez in three taxing sets — 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 — in a match lasting over two hours. With 62 official titles and seven world championships accumulated across more than two decades on the professional circuit, a second-week appearance in Madrid matters deeply. "I would like to win the World Championship to close my career," she told reporters earlier this week, naming the Qatar Worlds in November as her ultimate remaining target. The formal farewell ceremony for the 13th-ranked Spaniard is planned for Sunday, 6 September, between the women's and men's finals at the Movistar Arena — the same arena in her home city where she hopes to still be competing by then. Rufo and Iglesias are far from token opposition: the pair advanced through their previous match by beating Sofía Saiz and Lucía Sainz in three sets, arriving at the round of 16 in strong form.

Women's Top Seeds Also in Action

The rest of the women's draw delivers four more high-quality encounters. Top seeds Gemma Triay and Delfi Brea face Giulia Dal Pozzo and Nuria Rodríguez. Bea González and Paula Josemaría (2) take on Alix Collombon and Ksenia Sharifova. Ariana Sánchez and Andrea Ustero (3) play Carolina Orsi and Patty Llaguno. The most closely contested match on paper among the seeded pairs is between Claudia Fernández and Martina Calvo (4) — London P1 champions — and Marta Talaván and Jessica Castelló.

Men's Draw: Defending Champions Return to Court

In the men's draw, defending Madrid P1 champions Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia — who swept their round-of-32 opponents aside in just 43 minutes — face Maxi Arce and Juan Tello today. Alejandro Galán and Federico Chingotto, who beat Aris Patiniotis and Diego García 6-2, 6-4 in the previous round, meet Juanlu Esbrí and Sanyo Gutiérrez. Juan Lebrón and Leo Augsburger take on Gonza Alfonso and Tino Libaak. The full quarterfinal picture will be confirmed by Thursday evening, with semifinals on Saturday, 5 September, and the title deciders on Sunday — when the Movistar Arena will also stage Madrid's official farewell to Salazar.