Is "El Clásico" returning to the Asución semis?
The Asunción Open will kick off the great American tour of A1 Padel and we already know the main draw. The tournament will begin on Monday, September 25, with the first 6 matches of the round of 32, a phase that will be completed on Tuesday. And pay attention, because on the horizon there is a potential semifinal between Dal Bianco-Arce and Tito-Tolito. It would be the seventh duel between both pairs. Their first match was in the quarterfinals and was won by Tito and Tolito, as well as the three semi-finals in a row between the Canary Islands, La Rioja and Mar del Plata. The last three duels were in the finals and all of them have fallen on the side of the No. 1, breaking the 4-0 streak of their rivals. The last match between the two was the final of the Brasil Open with an incredible comeback for Dal Bianco-Arce.
Monday and Tuesday, time for the round of 32
Monday’s day will be intense. Not only because it is the beginning of this series of 4 consecutive tournaments, but because it will present attractive matches such as the debut in Paraguay of couples 7 and 8. Santiago Rolla and Yain Melgratti will seek to confirm their good debut as a couple after the quarterfinals in Tenerife and the semi-finals in Verbier. Their rivals will be Alejandro Urzola and Oscar Guiral who are not at their best, taking into account that they have fallen in the first round in their last three tournaments.
For its part, talking about the number 8 seeds is talking about a couple that is debuting and that generates a lot of expectations. After his recent separation from Juani Rubini, the talented Facundo López begins a new project alongside Andrés Britos, a very experienced player. In his debut they will face off against Daniel Blanco and Rodrigo López.
On Tuesday the round of 32 will close, and it will do so with the debut of two other seeded couples. After not achieving the expected results in the last stretch of the season, Pablo Barrera and Federico Chiostri have decided to embark on new adventures.
Barrera has chosen Matias Del Moral as his partner, a couple who will start as number 5 and who will have to compete against one of the couples from the qualy. For his part, Chiostri will have Maxi Sánchez Blasco next to him, going out as couple 6. In the first round his rivals will be Victor Saenz and Pablo Nicolás Egea.
The debut of the top 4
Being an Open category tournament, the first four seeded couples will debut only in the round of 16, an event that will begin on Wednesday. It will be the turn of the number 1, Franco Dal Bianco and Maxi Arce, who will seek their eighth title of the season, in addition to defending the crown obtained in Asunción last year. But be careful, because Tito Allemandi and Tolito Aguirre, in this tournament number 3 couple, will go on the same side of the draw and a possible derby is looming in the semifinals.
The brand new number 2 in the ranking, Juani De Pascual and Gonzalo Alfonso could debut against a couple that promises to give a show: Juani Rubini and Santi Frugoni. Of course, they must first beat Marc Monne and Oier Zuazua. De Pascual and Alfonso will seek to extend their good streak, after having been champions in Switzerland and reaching the final in Tenerife. Diego Ramos and Agustín Torre, couple number 4, will also debut on Thursday against the winner of a couple from the qualy and Balta Parra-Matias Gonzalez.
Locals in action
Finally, note that the two local players will be on the court in the round of 32. On Monday it will be Martín Abud’s turn, in the previously mentioned tough match against De Astoreca-Maldonado. This will probably be considered the ‘match of the day’. For his part, Santiago Castañeyra will do the same on Wednesday (playing with Pablo Deltell) against a couple from the qualy.