Martina Calvo, what a debut for the young prodigy: today it's revenge against Sanchez-Josemaria

From the Buenos Aires P1 semifinal to an impressive debut at the BNL Italy Major Premier Padel. Martina Calvo, the 16-year-old standout of the early Premier Padel season, continues her unstoppable rise with a brilliant performance at her Foro Italico debut. In the second-to-last match on Wednesday on Court 7, the young talent from Pamplona crushed Rebeca and Amanda Lopez 6-0 6-1, teaming up with the “Viking” Aranzazu Osoro. A dream start that sets up a Thursday showdown against Ari Sanchez and Paula Josemaria – the defending champions in Rome – as she looks for revenge after last week’s loss in the Argentine semifinal.

On Day 2, standout wins came from the No. 6 seeds — Ale Salazar and Veronica Virseda — who defeated Merino/Navarro in 1 hour and 21 minutes to book a place in the round of 16 against Marta Barrera and Marta Caparros, who won the most hard-fought match of the afternoon against Orsi/Rodriguez (6-7 6-1 6-3).

A strong start also for Tamara Icardo and Claudia Jensen, playing their last tournament together: after a 6-3 6-4 win over Perez/Borrero, the Spaniard and the Argentine will return to the court tomorrow to face Marta Talavan and Ksenia Sharifova (6-4 6-2 over Pujals/Valenzuela). Sharifova is chasing another big result after reaching the quarterfinals in the 2024 edition with Lucia Martinez. Martinez herself, alongside Marta Marrero, will mark the debut of Bea Gonzalez and Claudia Fernandez, highly anticipated after their title in Asuncion and the final in Buenos Aires. Meanwhile, the No. 3 seeds Gemma Triay and Delfi Brea will take on Raquel Eugenio and Maria Virginia Riera, who advanced with a 6-1 6-3 win over Arruabarrena/Bidahorria.

Lucia Sainz and Patty Llaguno, last year’s finalists, had an easy time defeating Sandra Bellver and Laia Rodriguez 6-2 6-2 in under an hour. Sainz and Llaguno will now face Caldera and Carmen Goenaga, who moved forward with a 6-1 6-3 win over Velasco/Canovas. Marina Guinart and Victoria Iglesias (6-4 6-4 over Nogueira/Fassio) also advanced to Day 3 and will play against Araujo/Ustero (seeded 4) on Thursday.