The full crowd around the nets and grates, the spectacle of the great international padel on the field. The FIP Silver Mediolanum Padel Cup in Palermo ends at the Country Time Club, an edition – the third – with athletes registered from 14 countries. And there are four different nations celebrating after Sunday’s finals: in the men’s competition the French Dylan Guichard and the Belgian Clement Geens rejoice, in the women’s the title goes to the American Brittany Dubins and the Mexican Camila Ramme. It’s the magic of padel: the favorites don’t always win and this makes everything more beautiful, exciting, unpredictable. And this time, in both the men’s and women’s categories, the couples who were very favorites for the final victory fell.
The winners
For Guichard and Geens this is the second international success of the year after the one in Holland last March. A victory – 6-3 7-6 the final result against Antonio “Pincho” Fernandez and Adrian Marques – arrived thanks to an exceptional performance by the Frenchman, who took center stage in the decisive moments of the match, in particular in the tie break of the second set which drew the loudest applause from the audience. For the number 4 seeds in the tournament it is a victory that overturns the prediction, given that “Pincho” and Marques, number one in the draw, had reached the final without losing a single set.
There was also a surprise in the women’s competition, where the American Brittany Dubins and the Mexican Camila Ramme got the better of the Spanish Alba Perez and Alba Gallardo, number 3 in the tournament and big favorites to win. Dubins and Ramme immediately started strong, closing the first set 6-2, with Perez and Gallardo responding with the same score in the second. Ramme’s performance in the third was superb, decisive despite the muscle problems in her leg: at the final 6-4 the long emotional embrace of the Mexican with her American partner, who together won their second title as a couple after last month in Miami.
Platania-Sargolini, what a tournament
However, the great journey of Matteo Platania and Matteo Sargolini came to a halt in the semi-final. The two young Italians, aged 19 and 18 respectively, surrendered to the tournament favourites, the Spaniards Antonio “Pincho” Fernandez (world no.63) and Adrian Marques (world no.93), at the end of a hard-fought match which ended with a double 7-5.
After eliminating the Italian Cassetta in the quarterfinals, Platania and Sargolini came close to achieving the feat by coming back from 1-5 to 5-5 in the first set and holding their own against their opponents until the last points of the match. For the Italian couple, however, this is the best result obtained so far in the CUPRA FIP Tour, the world circuit of the International Padel Federation of which the Palermo FIP Silver is part.
“It was all beautiful – said Platania from Agrigento, one of the gems of Sicilian padel –. Playing so well here in Sicily, in my home, was an incredible experience.” Along the same lines, Sargolini: “After a difficult period, something has clicked here. Having played on par with the number one players in the tournament gives us great confidence for the future.”
The other Italians still competing, Caterina Baldi and Clarissa Aima, also stopped in the semi-final, stopped by the champions Dubins-Ramme.
The show of the big names in football
It was supposed to be a great challenge and expectations were not disappointed. The four football stars, protagonists today at the Country for the VIP Pro Am Exhibition, put on a pure spectacle. Marco Amelia, Simone Barone, Paolo Di Canio and Stefano Fiore battled in a single set match, highly applauded by the audience and decided only in a tie-break in favor of the Amelia-Di Canio pair.
But it wasn’t a walk in the park at all. After a lightning start that saw Amelia and Di Canio escape with a 4-1 lead, the opponents came back, led by a very solid Simone Barone and a Stefano Fiore who was more inspired than ever. From that moment on, between bandajas, smashes and spectacular por tres – all seasoned with a healthy dose of teasing, laughter and the brilliant direction of the match judge Pablo Francisco – the match was played point by point.
The decisive point was scored by a very fit Di Canio who, still full of adrenaline, celebrated by improvising a squat with Amelia on his shoulders. The enthusiasm also infected the public: many fans, from the youngest to the adults, surrounded the four champions in search of selfies, autographs and jokes.
“Palermo is an extraordinary place, every time we return we are happy”, declared Amelia and Barone at the end of the day, very attached to the city after having written, in the past, important pages of rosanero history.