Ari and Paula show no mercy: on Sunday they aim for redemption

There’s little room for regrets in a sport that features a new tournament nearly every week, but it’s likely that Jessica Castello will have trouble sleeping tonight. This is due to the missed smash at an open court at 6-5 in the tie-break of the first set during the BNL Italy Major semifinal against the world’s number one pair, Ari Sanchez and Paula Josemaria, who went on to win 76(6) 64. With just one more point, the Spaniard and her partner Claudia Jensen would have clinched an 80-minute first set and taken a significant step towards the final in Rome. Instead, the error kept the top-ranked pair alive, who promptly punished them just two points later.

It wouldn’t be entirely accurate to say that the second women's semifinal ended there, because at the start of the second set, Castello/Jensen managed to break immediately, taking a 2-0 lead. However, the match lost any real momentum shift, as Ari and Paula quickly recovered the break and resumed control, culminating in a break in the tenth game that secured them the set, the match, and their second consecutive final in Rome. Much like Tapia and Coello among men, although the latter won in 2023 while their female counterparts had to settle for second place.

However, unlike Coello/Tapia, the pair Sanchez/Josemaria can still pursue a sort of Grand Slam of padel, having already won the first Major of the season in Qatar. On Sunday at the Foro Italico (at 18:30), they will be on the court fighting to claim the second. Their opponents will be Lucia Sainz and Patty Llaguno, who were outstanding on Saturday and watched the match won by their next rivals from a restaurant TV. Perhaps they spotted a way to neutralize them…