Traditional rivals Argentina and Spain will face off in the Qatar Ooredoo Padel World Championship 2021 final today. The two heavyweights have met each other on 11 previous occasions in the World Championship history while 10-time winners Argentina have defeated their European counterparts on eight of those occasions. Spain have won the world title on three occasions and all those victories have come against Argentina.
Yesterday, at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha, Argentina beat Brazil 3-0 in men’s semi-final. Carlos Daniel Gutierrez/ Agustin Tapia beat Lucas Campagnolo/ Pablo De Lima 6-4, 6-3 in a one hour and three minute-long contest to give Argentina an early advantage.
Martin Di Nenno/Franco Stupaczuk then followed up with another win for “La Albiceleste” when they overcame Lucas Bergamini/Joao P Flores 6-3, 6-2 in another tough battle which lasted for over an hour. The third Argentinian pair, Federico Chingotto/Juan Tello stamped their place in the final with a straight-set win (6-4, 6-3) over Julio Cesar Julanoti/Lucas Cunha.
Meanwhile, Spain made it to the final with a clean sweep over France, who were making their maiden appearance in the semi-finals since the inaugural World Championships in 1992. Spain’s Alejandro Galan and Juan Lebron, ranked No 1 in the world, were too good for their counterparts Benjamin Tison and Johan Bergeron as the Frenchman lost 6-0, 6-2 in the first pairs match in yesterday’s semi-finals. Francisco Navarro/Arturo Coello then made it 2-0 in favour of Spain when they beat Bastien Blanque /Thomas Leygue 6-1, 6-2. Alejandro Ruiz Granados and Jeronimo Gonzalez defeated Jeremy Scatena / Maxime Moreau 6-3, 6-0 as the Spaniards made it to the final for the 12th time.
The women’s final will also see a meeting of same opponents as of last World Championships in which the Spaniards emerged victorious over Argentina. The Spanish women yesterday qualified for the final French counterparts 3-0.
Women’s World No 2, Spain’s Alejandra Salazar yesterday expressed her great happiness after her team reached the World Championship final and said: “We are all happy with this achievement, and tomorrow we will strive to win the title of the most beautiful and biggest championship in Qatar.”
She praised the tournament hosts Qatar, the first to host the Padel World Championship in the Middle East and Asia. “Qatar has presented a great and distinguished championship in every way, and it is good to be crowned here in Doha tomorrow,” she said.
Spain and Argentina have met in the World Championship finals on 12 occasions in which the south Americans prevailed seven times.
FIP President hails Qatar’s Organisation of Worlds
Meanwhile, President of the International Padel Federation (FIP) Luigi Carraro praised the Qatar’s hosting of the World Padel Championship.
Carraro was impressed by Qatar’s hospitality and hosting of the tournament and said the enthusiasm of the Qatari officials towards padel drew plenty of praise.
“The organisation has been unbelievable – the venues, the services, the accommodation, the people everything has been perfect. We want to thank the Qatar federation. The tournament is being aired across 55 countries and matches on all the eight courts are streamed live. It’s never happened. If Qatar requests an opportunity to organise another event, we’ll have no hesitation in saying yes,” Carraro said.
A Spain player stretches for a shot during the semi-finals against France at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex yesterday.
International Padel Federation President Luigi Carraro.