Coello and Tapia shift gears: back in the final at Foro Italico

When strong personalities like Paquito Navarro and Juan Lebron are involved, everything can be questioned daily. Thus, less than 24 hours after their best performance of the year, here comes one of their worst, both for the (little) padel they displayed in the 6-3 6-1 defeat against the number one pair Agustin Tapia and Arturo Coello, and for their emotional management, with a somewhat resigned attitude in the end, and even Lebron leaving the court immediately, abandoning his partner, who later left shaking his head.

Putting aside the whims of the defeated, the news at the BNL Italy Major is that the reigning champions are back in the final, following a thoroughly convincing performance. It’s well known that they can raise their level when it matters, and they demonstrated it again, starting the match well and continuing even better, with Coello becoming increasingly impenetrable at the net and Tapia – significantly more focused and attentive than in previous days – hitting smash winners from seemingly illogical positions towards the end. When both are so inspired, playing against them can be demoralizing. Stopping them is simply impossible.

“Tomorrow – said Coello – will be our ninth final of the season. That’s a lot, but there’s a great deal of work behind it. To reach it here in Rome, we needed a great match, against a pair that always finds an alternative to what we propose. I’m super happy”. “Everyone wants to win against us – added Tapia – so we can only try to improve day by day, also to respond to the changes among the pairs. We care a lot about this tournament: I’m pleased with how it’s gone so far, and tomorrow we’ll try to finish as well as we did last year”.