We will witness an 11ᵉ face-to-face between Stupa / Di Nenno and Coello / Tapia. In this second semi-final of the evening in Argentina, the pair Alex Ruiz / Juan Tello came very close to the ticket for a second consecutive final against the first world pair, after the WPT in Malaga.

It was without counting on the mind and sometimes the lucky star to the rescue of Martin Di Nenno / Franco Stupaczuk.

The outsiders make the favorites tremble

Manhandled from the start of the match, “the Superkids” fail to impose their game. Opposite, the Andalusian and his teammate are implementing their strategy. The two friends play technically fair and commit very few unforced errors, thus taking the advantage in the game (5/2). Indeed, the Hispano-Argentinian pair only committed 3 faults, while the albicélestes accounted for no less than 17.

Under the encouragement of the public who came to give strength to the local players, Stupa and Di Nenno resist and manage to gradually pick up the score. After a failed game from Alex Ruiz, the seed 2 manages to unbreak (5/4). After his return from the bench, the Andalusian wanted to correct his performance and it is with great firmness that he offers the first set to his team.

Los Superpibes in pain

Stung to the quick, pair number 2 decided not to be walked on so easily. From the outset in the second set, the two friends break and send a clear message to their rivals: they are back in the game (0/2).

The two pairs are neck and neck in the fourth game, but we feel a very solid Stupa mentally, like his teammate. Indeed, the young Argentinian makes more mistakes than usual and offers Ruiz and Tello an equalizer at 2/2. Relaunched in the game, the latter manage to regain the advantage, displaying a very offensive level of play knocking out los “super kids“. The steam has reversed on the 20×10 of this Mendoza P1. Tello is imperial in his diagonal and Ruiz takes more risks which pay off (4/2).

This does not mean that Stupa and Di Nenno have said their last word. In pain, they manage to get back into the game and reset the counters to zero (4/4). Both players push a little more to the net and play their opponents to push them to the fault. “los Superpibes” snatch a tie-break when they are less good than their opponents.

The tension is palpable in the stands and the wait to know who will emerge as the winner of this meeting is driving the audience crazy. Martin Di Nenno is blessed by the gods, when he is in the hard, he wins a very lucky point with a ball that comes to die just behind the net. Stupa / Di Nenno wins a second set against the run of play.

Argentines punish

Confident after winning the last set, “the Superkids” speed up the game. Di Nenno seems to have recovered and Stupa is much more regular. Very quickly, the two friends took the advantage (4/1).

It is lightning that falls on the Hispano-Argentinian pair. Confused, the two players can no longer find the fault and seem totally lost on the trail. On the other side, the two Argentinians unroll quietly taking advantage of the big drop in speed of the opponents.

Final score: 6/4 - 6/7 - 1/6

Stupa / Di Nenno joined this Sunday in the final of this Mendoza P1, Agustin Tapia and Arturo Coello, victorious earlier against Juan Lebron and Alejandro Galan.

Sebastien Carrasco

Future naturopath and passionate about padel, Seb is the health/food gentleman of Padel Magazine. He juggles between pala, quinoa and essential oils. For almost two years now he has been dealing with the news of the little yellow ball with the same passion.

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