Two-time winners and giant-slayers Brea and Icardo announce split

Delfi Brea and Tamara Icardo have announced they will go their separate ways following the Adeslas Santander-Cantabria Open 2022.

The Argentinian Brea and Spanish Icardo played together since the start of the 2021 season, winning two titles and reaching a total of five finals.

Finishing 2021 as the three-seed, Brea and Icardo never recovered the same form in the current season, and they will switch partners for the Estrella Damm Menorca Open 2022.

Known as 'giant-slayers' for their substantial number of victories over top seeds, Brea and Icardo captured the heart of many World Padel Tour fans in their time as a duo.

Brea and Icardo: The giant slayers

Brea and Icardo got together ahead of the 2021 World Padel Tour season, both players having already shown a lot of promise beforehand.

Icardo had never reached a final before 2021. Brea had in 2019, when she played part of the season with Majo Sánchez Alayeto while her twin sister battled injury.

It became clear quickly the Argentinian-Spanish combination was a good one. Their breakthrough came precisely at the 2021 Santander Open. Brea and Icardo reached their first final and won their first title together, putting themselves on the map in a big way.

It was a historic title win too, as it was the first-ever time a couple had won a tournament being the lower-seeded team in every single round (Brea and Icardo were tenth-placed).

They would win their second title in Icardo's native Valencia, beating number one seed Alejandra Salazar and Gemma Triay in the final. Winning two titles and making four finals in 2021, Brea and Icardo finished 2021 as the three-seed.

Struggling for momentum

At the end of the season, however, Icardo suffered a major wrist injury in her dominant right hand. The Spaniard missed the final two events in 2021 as well as the season opener of the current campaign in Miami.

It took the couple a long time to get going, reaching their first semi-final of the season in Vienna. Three events after in Valencia, the scene of their second title together, Brea and Icardo again reached the final, but despite having a match point, could not capitalise.

Struggles continued at the Swedish Padel Open, when Icardo was forced to retire in the first round due to an allergic reaction she had the night before, and the Valencian had to skip both the Madrid Master and Amsterdam Open as well.

Coming full circle, Brea and Icardo announced their separation after the Santander Open, the scene where they won their first title together the year prior.