Taranto Day 3: Round 2 Sets the Quarter-Final Stage

The last step before the quarter-finals

Monday, 24 August marks Day 3 of padel's inaugural competition at the XX Mediterranean Games in Taranto, and the schedule is the most demanding yet: men's and women's doubles Round 2 matches run across two courts each from 09:30 through to 23:30 at Parco Mediterraneo Salinella. Eight pairs in each category will qualify for the quarter-finals — the first in the sport's Mediterranean Games history — due on Tuesday and Wednesday 25–26 August.

All four of the tournament's dominant nations confirmed their passage on Day 2. Spain, Italy, Portugal and France made what the International Padel Federation described as "a brilliant debut" in Sunday's action, with Spain's four pairs entering the draw for the first time and the mixed category also getting under way for its opening rounds. Egypt and Monaco continued to impress among the smaller nations.

Spain's four pairs chase history

Spain brings its strongest available squad to Taranto and arrives as the overwhelming favourite across all three categories. In the men's half, David Gala and José Diestro — two of the Spanish circuit's most consistent performers — headline a delegation that also includes Pol Hernández and Guille Collado, a pairing whose partnership has been consolidated throughout the season on the Premier Padel circuit and the CUPRA FIP Tour. On Day 1, Gala and Diestro were drawn to face Tunisia's Mehdi Elloumi and Mohamed Aziz Helali in the Round of 16 after the Tunisians beat Greece 6-3, 6-3 in qualifying.

On the women's side, Lucía Sainz and Patty Llaguno, both former world number ones, lead the line alongside Jimena Velasco and Nuria Rodríguez. Spain's depth is not in question; the challenge on Day 3 is to maintain that level through a gruelling back-to-back schedule at this point of the padel calendar, with the Madrid Premier Padel P1 at Movistar Arena beginning qualifying in just five days.

Home support for Italy; France and Egypt in the hunt

Italy counts on the passionate backing of Taranto's home crowd. In the women's draw, Carolina Orsi and Giorgia Marchetti, seeded fourth, are the banner pair and arrived at the Salinella venue carrying momentum from their domestic circuit campaign. Italy's Minister for Sport, Andrea Abodi, added to the occasion on Day 2 when he took to the courts alongside players from the Spanish squad — a vivid signal of the institutional weight placed behind padel's Mediterranean Games debut.

France's women's representatives Louise Bahurel and Lucile Pothier, entered as sixth seeds, showed composure in their opening match and will need more of the same on Monday. Egypt continues to punch above its weight: both men's pairs — Mohamed Aboulkassem/Aly Zaghloul and Youssef Hussein/Georges Wakim — and women's pair Mayar Tawfik/Farida El Halaby won on Day 1, confirming the continent's rapid development. Monaco's Nicolas Fedoroff and Noah Minioni also advanced past Albania in three sets.

What comes next: the road to "Super Friday"

Once Monday's Round 2 is complete, the tournament enters its decisive phase. Quarter-finals are scheduled for Tuesday 25 and Wednesday 26 August, semi-finals on Thursday 27, and the medal matches on Friday 28 — already dubbed "Super Friday" by organisers — with bronze play-offs followed by the three category finals that will crown the first padel champions in Mediterranean Games history.

The entire competition is broadcast live via Eurovision Sport to 244 countries and territories worldwide, accessible through web, app and smart TV. No padel event has achieved a comparable broadcast footprint at a multi-sport games: Tuesday's quarter-finals, whichever pairs reach them, will be watched across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and beyond.