Vigo women's round of 16: Brea/Icardo make season debut, ex-number one suffers injury

Vigo women's round of 16: Brea/Icardo make season debut, ex-number one suffers injury

The women'sVigo Open 2022 round of 16 threw up a lot of headlines on Thursday, with the three-seed making their long-awaited season debut and a former number one retiring from her match injured.

24-03-2022

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The women's Vigo Open 2022 round of 16 threw up a lot of headlines on Thursday, with the three-seed making their long-awaited season debut and a former number one retiring from her match injured.

All top four seeds, who skipped the round of 32 because of ranking, were in action on this matchday, making their tournament debuts.

Here is what happened in all eight matches at the IFEVI.

Riera/Llaguno (4) vs Saiz/Martínez

First in action were last season's Vigo Open winners Virginia Riera and Patricia Llaguno who took on the alliterating pair of Sofía Saiz and Marina Martínez.

Centre court witnessed a determined Riera and Llaguno, playing with great dexterity and aggression. Saiz and Martínez barely had a say as the set finished 6-0 in under half an hour.

A single game was won by the Spaniards in the second set but they simply could not cope with the fourth-seeded Llaguno and Riera. In exactly an hour, it finished 6-0 6-1.

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González/Ortega (6) vs Araújo/Rufo

Meanwhile, court 2 saw the winning pair of Bea González and Marta Ortega against the Spanish-Portuguese tandem of Sofia Araújo and Lorena Rufo.

González and Ortega have committed to playing with incredible pace this season, seeing them consecutive semi-finals, and this style served them well on Thursday.

Rufo and Araújo were broken several times in the first and second set, losing by a double 6-2 in an hour and 18 minutes.

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Sánchez/Josemaría (2) vs Caldera/Goenaga

After another finals appearance in Reus, two-seed Ariana Sánchez and Paula Josemaría made their Vigo bow against Carmen Goenaga and Bea Caldera.

These two pairs had already met in the Reus quarter-finals, Ari and Paula winning convincingly. This match was in the same vein.

A double 6-1 was seen on the scoreboard in under an hour, sending the youngsters packing.

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Marrero/Sainz (5) vs Navarro/Godallier

Two number ones were in action on court 2 next as Marta Marrero and Lucía Sainz took on Teresa Navarro and Léa Godallier.

Sainz and Marrero got their first win of the season on Wednesday and looked to build on it the day after, taking hold of the match from the off.

Navarro and Godallier were unable to stop the veterans, who pulled away to win 6-3 6-2 after an hour and 23 minutes.

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Salazar/Triay (1) vs Mesa/Jensen

Number ones Alejandra Salazar and Gemma Triay came to Vigo fresh after their second title of the season, now with Carla Mesa and Claudia Jensen as their opponents.

It was Mesa's birthday, turning 31 years old, but she received little sympathy from the reigning number ones.

While met with a lot of resistance from Mesa and 16-year-old Jensen, Triay and Salazar got the job done the hard way, winning by a double 6-4.

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Alayeto/Alayeto (8) vs Navarro/Amatriaín*

The only three-setter in the women's matches on Thursday was between the eighth and ninth-seeded pairs as Atomic Twins Mapi and Majo Sánchez Alayeto squared off with Carolina Navarro and Eli Amatriaín.

A battle between four number ones and veterans of the game, the Alayeto sisters took the first set 7-5 before being countered with a 4-6 from Navarro and Amatriaín.

The match was stopped at 1-0 in the third set, however, Amatriaín suffering an injury. The Spaniard was not able to continue and was forced to forfeit the match. World Padel Tour wishes her a speedy recovery!

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Brea/Icardo (3) vs Villalba/Cañellas

A player who has just recovered from her long-term injury Tamara Icardo made her season debut with partner Delfi Brea on centre court against Mari Carmen Villalba and Ariadna Cañellas.

The last tournament Brea and Icardo competed in was the Malmö Padel Open last season, where they reached the final, and they looked like they had not missed a beat despite it being over four months later.

Twice tournament winners in 2021, Tamara and Delfi won with a double 6-2 to make the quarter-finals. They will play the Sánchez Alayeto sisters on Friday.

6-2 6-2 1h17m

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Osoro/Iglesias (7) vs Rodríguez/Talaván

Finally, seven-seed Aranza Osoro and Victoria Iglesias played an epic match against Nuria Rodríguez and Marta Talaván on court 2.

A rematch of the Reus round of 32 match, where Rodríguez and Talaván won in three sets, the underdogs again took the opening set 4-6.

This time, however, Osoro and Iglesias gritted and grinded their way back into the match, scraping a 7-5 win in the second set and a slightly easier 6-2 win in the third after over two-and-a-half hours.

Up next, the number ones Salazar and Triay.

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