González/Ruiz, Stupaczuk/Lima make debuts in Circus Brussels Padel Open round of 32

The round of 32 in the inaugural Circus Brussels Padel Open 2022 took place on Wednesday at the spectacular Tour & Taxis in the heart of the Belgian capital.

A lot of newly-formed top pairs, including Momo González and Alex Ruiz as well as Franco Stupaczuk and Pablo Lima, made their debuts since coming together.

Tonnes to look forward to then in the round of 32 in the first-ever Open in Belgium!

Early matches

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González and Ruiz were the ones who baptised centre court, taking on qualifiers Raúl Marcos and Javi García. The new seven-seed, both of whom hail from Malaga in Spain, started terrifically, winning the opening set 6-2 before following it up with a 6-4 in the second. A near-perfect start for the new duo.

Another 'new' pair Álvaro Cepero and Pablo Lijó featured on court 2 against qualifiers Marc Quílez and Toni Bueno. The 3.0 version of Cepero and Lijó clicked from the beginning, rushing to a 6-2 in the first set and breaking at will again in the second frame, winning it 6-1.

Miguel Yanguas and Coki Nieto started their adventure in Belgium against another qualifying pairing in Juanlu Esbri and Javier Barahona at the Tour & Taxis. The semi-finalists from Reus were determined and in great form on Wednesday, winning 6-3 in the opening set on court 2.

After an hour and twenty minutes, Nieto and Yanguas closed the match out with a single break, winning 6-4.

Belgian wild cards Alec Witmeur and Francois Azzola made their World Padel Tour debuts at centre court, doing so against Gonzalo Rubio and Jorge Ruiz. Witmeur and Azzola were overwhelming underdogs in the match, and while they left their home crowd with some highlights to get them out of their seats, it was mostly one-way traffic.

Rubio and Ruiz never had to get out of second gear and broke several times in both sets to win with a double 6-1. They are through to the round of 16, where they will face number ones Juan Lebrón and Alejandro Galán.

Argentinian legend Agustín Silingo and his Spanish counterpart Xisco Gil were in action on court 2 against a new duo in Sergio Alba and Edu Alonso.

Silingo and Gil have made it out of the round of 32 in the last four tournaments, and they continued this streak in Belgium. Alba and Alonso put up a real fight in the first set but eventually buckled as it ended 6-4. The second set was more straightforward for Silingo and Gil, who broke twice to win it 6-1 and book their place in the round of 16.

Recent Tau Cerámica Albacete Challenger winners Lucas Campagnolo and Javi Garrido took on what is yet another new pairing in Jesús Moya and Antón Sans.

Campagnolo and Garrido have been one of the revelations of this young 2022 World Padel Tour season and they impressed again in Brussels. Moya and Sans looked solid in their debut, but were no match for the Brazilian-Spanish tandem. The first set ended 6-3, while the second was more one-sided as it finished 6-2, putting them through to the round of 16 on Thursday.

Afternoon matches

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The afternoon stint started with Franco Stupaczuk and Pablo Lima making their bow as a new pair as the five-seed faced young prodigies Iván Ramírez and Álex Arroyo.

Stupa and Lima had some kinks to work out early-on and did not look comfortable at the Tour & Taxis to begin with, with hard-hitters Ramírez and Arroyo holding their own. At 5-5, the youngsters broke to take the set 5-7.

The match, which featured what many are calling the point of the century, flipped on its head in the second set. Lima and Stupaczuk started to gel and to purr, and took the second set 6-1 and the third 6-2 to complete the comeback.

EL PUNTO DEL SIGLO.

Lo juramos. Jamás lo has visto.

¡Esto es #WorldPadelTour?!#WPTBrusselsOpen?? pic.twitter.com/XakTTR7yLk

— World Padel Tour (@WorldPadelTour) May 4, 2022

Getafe Challenger winners Jon Sanz and Miguel Lamperti made their Belgian bow against Víctor Ruiz and Josete Rico for a ticket to the second round.

Sanz and Lamperti were the favourites and proved why, running through Ruiz and Rico from start to finish. Winning 6-2 in the first set, they went up 4-0 in the second to break their opponents' spirit. Lamperti and Sanz went through with a double 6-2.

Miami Padel Open winners and six-seed Arturo Coello and Fernando Belasteguín were in action on centre court as they took on Argentinians Ramiro Moyano and Juan Cruz Belluati.

Surprisingly, underdogs Moyano and Belluati went up early with a break, but failed to hold on to it for the remainder of the set. It went to a tie-break, which was finally won by Coello and Bela 7-6(5).

Having dealt a major blow to their rivals, it was plain sailing for Coello and Belasteguín in the second set. They broke several times and won the match 6-2.

Bela's long-time team-mate Juan Martín Díaz and partner Agustín Gutiérrez faced the tricky duo of Pincho Fernández and José García Diestro. The former number one wrestled his way through the match alongside Gutiérrez, winning with a double 6-4.

Lucho Capra and Maxi Sánchez announced over the break they are re-uniting after just four tournaments apart, and the Argentinians got their new adventure underway against Belgian wild card players Clément Geens and Jérôme Peeters.

A match that was over after an hour, the tournament-winning pair of Capra and Sánchez won 6-2 and 6-3 to go through to the second round in Belgium. They will face Jon Sanz and Miguel Lamperti.

The last match of the day saw Javi Rico and Javi Ruiz make their Open debut as a duo against qualifiers Antonio Luque and Mario Del Castillo. An equal match in the first set, 'The Javis' won it after the tiebreak 7-6(3). With a more one-sided second set, they finished it 6-3 to go through to the round of 16.