Padel Magazine is back at Roland-Garros this Saturday for the semi-final day of the Greenweez Paris Major 2023. If you missed yesterday's day, here is a reminder and above all a focus on the main issues of the four matches scheduled for this Saturday.

► Will it get even hotter?

Completely unprecedented in France and extremely rare in the padel, the matches were interrupted yesterday at Roland-Garros, due to extreme heat. Around 15:30 p.m., the temperature reached 35 degrees in the shade yesterday at Porte d'Auteuil. At 13:30 p.m. this Saturday, it was already 33° and the forecast is for highs of between 35 and 36° around 16 p.m.!

► Open roof or closed roof?

Yesterday, while the match on track 7 was interrupted for more than two hours due to heat, the one taking place on the central floor (Tapia / Coello vs Ruiz / Bergamini) was only interrupted for a short quarter of an hour. hour, time to close the roof of the stadium. The temperature did not really drop, but at least the players and spectators were in the shade, protected from the blazing sun.

This Saturday, the roof is already closed and should remain closed for at least the first two matches, according to the information we have.

► Can Sanchez and Josemaria lose?

Undisputed world No. 1s Ari Sanchez and Paula Josemaria are obviously the favorites here, having crushed all their opponents so far at Roland Garros. But Ariana Sanchez is returning from an abdominal injury which prevented her from defending her chances last week in Finland. And the queens of the circuit are playing today in an unprecedented semi-final against the new pair formed by Alejandra Salazar and Sofia Araujo. Finalists last week in Tampere (beaten by Brea / Gonzalez), the Spanish-Portuguese pair will do everything to stop the Sanchez / Josemaria machine.

► Will Coello be 100%?

Suffering from heatstroke yesterday during the quarter-final against Bergamini / Ruiz, the Spaniard Arturo Coello called on the trainer. After the match, he explained that he had a temperature of 38,5° and a drop in blood pressure. Which did not prevent him, after losing the first set, from turning the game around with the help of his partner Agustin Tapia. Knowing that the semi-final against Sanz and Nieto should start after 16 p.m., in a temperature of 35 degrees, we can wonder if Coello will have recovered and be at 100% of his abilities. A failure on which his opponents of the day are counting: “To beat Tapia and Coello, they have to have a bad day,” said Coki Nieto and Jon Sanz yesterday.
But obviously, the other players are not immune to failure, especially in such hot conditions.

► The Osoro / Castello surprise

In the women's draw, the surprise guests of these semi-finals are Aranzazu Osoro and Jessica Castello. Seeded No. 8, Argentina and the Spaniard defeated seeded 3 Delfi Brea / Bea Gonzalez yesterday in two sets, with a score of 7/5 6/2. If they display the same level of play as yesterday, they will be able to upset Gemma Triay and Marta Ortega (TdS2), in a match scheduled around 18 p.m.

► Soon “Papaquito”

In the pink notebook series, the post-match press conference told us yesterday that Paquito Navarro was soon to be a dad ! The Sevillian already seems to have precise ideas about his future status as a father and the education he intends to give to his child. We can bet that this Navarro offspring will be a showman or a showwoman if he or she walks the runways of padel.
In any case, this great prospect could give wings to the public's favorite and his teammate Federico Chingotto. In the evening, they will be opposed to the title holders Juan Lebron and Ale Galan, who are gradually returning to their best level.

► Recognition for the padel-armchair

For the first time at Roland-Garros, an exhibition of padel-armchair, scheduled between the 3rd and 4th match of the day, a priori around 18 p.m. Four of the best French players in this discipline will be on the track: Nicolas Vanlerberghe / Sébastien Husser-Walther on one side, Dorian Navarro / Laurent Giammartini on the other. The opportunity for the general public to discover the astonishing level of play of these athletes. Last May, six wheelchair players brought back a bronze medal during the first world championships padel-armchair, won by the Spanish team. This presence of padel adapted here at Roland-Garros is also a way for the French Tennis Federation to fully integrate the padel-armchair, which was not the case until now.

Find the program for the semi-finals below:

Greenweez Paris Major – The semi-final program

After 40 years of tennis, Jérôme falls into the pot of padel in 2018. Since then, he thinks about it every morning while shaving… but never shaves pala in hand! Journalist in Alsace, he has no other ambition than to share his passion with you, whether you speak French, Italian, Spanish or English.

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