Premier padel in Rome, everything you need to know

Nine days destined to leave their mark, a parade of stars that will help further increase the passion of Italians for padel. Premier Padel and Foro Italico: this combination would be enough to make the Rome Major by Fitp magical, now in its second edition. But there is much, much more. The women, to begin with: it is the first “combined” tournament on this circuit, so far the strongest players in the world had only performed on the fields of the World Padel Tour. And then there is a prize money of 875 thousand euros, as well as massive television coverage on Sky Sport and Supertennis for a crazy entry list for both men and women.

padel fever

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More than 10,000 tickets have already been sold: they will also play at the Centrale stadium, which will host the finals on Sunday 16 July. After the qualifiers that take place over the weekend, from Monday there will be the matches of the main draws: 56 pairs for men, 48 for women. Rome, which has always been the Italian capital (also) of padel, will be able to give a warm welcome to the top players who will compete to write their name in the roll of honor after Juan Lebron and Ale Galan, the winners of 2022.

men

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The “Galacticos” will defend the title and they will do it together, because Lebron’s elbow is finally back in working order. They dominated for three years and are still first in the Fip ranking, but 2023 on the WPT was marked by the rise of Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia, threatened only by Martin Di Nenno and Franco Stupaczuk, the only ones capable of beating them this year in a couple of occasions (including the first Major Premier Padel in Doha). And the myth Belasteguin? Present and absolutely racing, even at 44 years old. Bela, the monument capable of completing 16 seasons as world number 1 (2002-2017), will play with the Spanish Yanguas, after having interrupted the partnership at the beginning of the year with Sanyo Gutierrez, now partner of Momo Gonzalez. And then Chingotto-Navarro, Ruiz-Tello and many other talents to admire up close. The first all-blue pair in the ranking will be made up of Simone Cremona and Marco Cassetta, returning from the beautiful adventure of the European Games, but obviously they are not the only Italians in the draw.

women

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In the women’s field, the only notable absence is that of Alejandra Salazar, historical partner of Gemma Triay, who will instead play together with Marta Ortega. The underdogs hang in favor of Paula Josemaria and Ari Sanchez, so far season leaders in most stages. But also watch out for Delfi Brea and Bea Gonzalez, who are capable of anything. The blues, returning from the excellent performance at the European Games in Krakow, will be present in force: Giulia Sussarello will have Emily Stellato next to her, while Chiara Pappacena will find Giorgia Marchetti (gold in Poland with Carolina Orsi, who will instead team up with Llaguno in Rome) .