The round of 16 of the BNL Italy Major is taking shape after an intense day at the Foro Italico. Between scares for several seeded players, the winning comebacks of Paquito Navarro and Martín Di Nenno, and a historic achievement for Italian padel, Rome has once again confirmed its status as an essential stop on the circuit. Premier Padel. 

In front of packed stands, several favorites had to dig deep to avoid an early exit, while Italy secured the presence of a representative in the quarter-finals of a Major for the first time in its history.

Stupaczuk and Yanguas pushed to their limits

Among the most closely contested matches of the day was the one between  Franco Stupaczuk and Mike Yanguas  à  Manuel Castaño and Xisco Gil  has long seemed like it could tip the scales. (5/7 7/6 6/3)

Recent winners of  FIP Platinum Albania  were put in difficulty by a particularly aggressive and inspired pair. Trailing after the first set, they had to wait until the tie-break of the second set to turn things around before making the difference in the deciding set.

A hard-fought but precious victory that allows them to continue their journey in Rome.

The same scenario applies to Coki Nieto and Jon Sanz.

Another favorite pair that's been shaken up:  Coki Nieto and Jon Sanz .

Facing  Luis Hernandez and Javi Martinez The Spanish team experienced a rollercoaster of a match. After a controlled first set, they saw their opponents mount a comeback before finally securing their qualification at the end of a particularly hard-fought third set. (6-1, 4-6, 7-5)

A performance that serves as a reminder of just how fierce the competition remains on the men's circuit.

Conversely, the tournament's main headliners avoided any suspense.

World number 1  Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia  They launched their Roman campaign perfectly by dominating the Italians.  Flavio Abbate and Álvaro Montiel  in two rounds.

The same level of control was observed on the part of  Federico Chingotto and Alejandro Galán , strong against  Tino Libaak and Alex Chozas , also for  Juan Lebrón and Leo Augsburger who confirmed their excellent start to their collaboration by ruling out  Manu Aragón and Albert Roglán .

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovered padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since then, padel has been part of his life. You often see him touring France to cover major French padel events.