All eyes in the Allianz Cloud were on them. On the world number 1. Paula Josemaria, Ari Sanchez, Ale Galan, Juan Lebron will also be on the court tomorrow: the Milano Premier Padel P1 pairs won in their debut match, qualifying for the round of 16 and confirming their place in pole position for the final victory. Galan and Lebron arrive in Milan as defending champions, but still in the hunt for their first Premier Padel title in 2023: the Spaniards defeated 6-3 6-4 Pablo Cardona and Javier Ruiz and, in the round of 16, tomorrow they will face Antonio Fernandez and Gonzalo Rubio, the number 13 seed.
“I hope people enjoyed it and tomorrow we will be back on court trying to give the best possible show – Galan said –. The goal is always to win, then we will see what happens in the future. We have confidence in our game, we have to face very strong opponents. It has been a long season, with many tournaments: having had the chance to rest and train in these three weeks has helped us”. Galan, in the fifth game of the second set, played a volley with his back to the net that is already a candidate for the title of point of the tournament. A champion’s point, like Jude Bellingham is in football: “If I had to choose one player to share the padel ‘pista’ with, it would be him. Who do I root for in Italy? I sympathise with AC Milan, because they were coached by Carletto Ancelotti”. Yes, because Galan’s is a ‘blanco’ heart, all for Real Madrid.
Lebron, on the other hand, listens to the Italian music of Mr. Rain and has become familiar with ‘Isla Padel’, the song created by rapper Junior Cally and written by Sky Sport journalist Gianluigi Bagnulo that is already the soundtrack of the tournament. “We come from a long and difficult year, but we are playing a great padel, we come here to confirm last year’s title – explains ‘Lobo’ -. It’s very nice to play at such a good time of the season: we are happy to be in Milan here with all of you, in a city that has already given us so much. We look forward to continuing this journey”. Lots of youngsters were on the hunt for an autograph from Juan and Ale, who – speaking of youngsters – before leaving the Allianz Cloud and enjoying a few hours’ rest paid a visit to the stand of the Minister for Sport and Youth, present in the village just outside the stadium.
Earlier in the morning, before that of Galan and Lebron, the debut of the women’s number 1s had also been a winner, with Paula Josemaria and Ari Sanchez giving up only four games (6-3 6-1) to Sandra Bellver Fructuoso and Maria Eulalia Rodriguez Abajo, accelerating in the second set after a first balanced set. “Thanks to everyone who was here on a Wednesday morning”, said the Spaniard. We have played an incredible season, which we hope to close in the best way: obviously, the goal is to get to the end of the week and, why not, to win’”. In the round of 16, they will play against Nuria Rodriguez and Marta Talavan.