Rotterdam P2: Big four enter as Coello/Tapia meet giant-killers

The CUPRA Rotterdam Premier Padel P2 really gets going today. The four top-seeded men's pairs had byes through the opening round, and all four play their first matches at Rotterdam Ahoy this Thursday in the round of 16. The best-looking tie is on the central court: defending champions Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia take on Álvaro Montiel and Dani Santigosa, who caused the first big upset of the week.

Montiel and Santigosa earn their shot at the world number ones

Montiel and Santigosa beat Edu Alonso and Aimar Goñi 7-6, 6-3 in their opening match. El Neverazo called it one of the biggest results of the first day. That win sets up a meeting with the tournament's number one seeds. Their match is scheduled for no earlier than 15:00 local time, according to the order of play.

Coello and Tapia come to the Netherlands as defending champions and are going for their ninth title of the season, Padel Addict reports. They also lead the race: at the end of August they were top of the standings with 20,980 points, more than 3,000 ahead of Ale Galán and Fede Chingotto. Galán and Chingotto start their own tournament later in the evening session against Enzo Jensen and David Gala. After that, Juan Lebrón and Leo Augsburger play Maxi Arce and Juan Tello.

Paquito and Di Nenno still looking for that first title

The other storyline to watch is the reunited partnership of Paquito Navarro and Martín Di Nenno. They are seeded fourth and open against Teo Zapata and Adrián Naranjo straight after the first women's match on the central court. Since getting back together in June, the pair have reached the semi-finals in Bordeaux, Málaga, London and Paris, Actu Padel notes. The semi-final run at the Paris Major lifted them to fourth in the FIP pair rankings on 11,594 points, just ahead of Franco Stupaczuk and Jon Sanz. They have not yet won a Premier Padel title together.

Stupaczuk and Sanz were among Wednesday's most convincing winners. They beat Mario Ortega and Adam Axelsson 6-2, 6-2 and now face Pol Hernández and Manuel Castaño. Lyon champions Fran Guerrero and Javi Leal needed three sets to get past Enrique Goenaga and Guille Collado (6-1, 2-6, 7-5). Their next opponents are Tino Libaak and Gonza Alfonso.

Women's favourites start their week

The leading women's pairs also play their first matches today. Defending champions Gemma Triay and Delfi Brea face Marta Talaván and Jessica Castelló. Roland Garros winners Ari Sánchez and Andrea Ustero have a tricky draw against Lucía Sainz and Sofía Saiz. Sainz and Saiz came back from a set down on Wednesday to win 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. Paula Josemaría and Bea González open the day on the central court against Alix Collombon and Ksenia Sharifova. On court 2, Claudia Fernández and Martina Calvo play Lyon champions Bea Caldera and Carmen Goenaga.

The first matches start at 12:00. The Premier Padel YouTube channel is showing the early rounds, and Red Bull TV takes over coverage in Spain from the quarter-finals onwards. The winners in Rotterdam get 600 ranking points, and the finals are on Sunday, 4 October. Next up is the Germany P2 from 5 to 11 October.