Paquito Navarro and Martín Di Nenno will leave Paris having moved up in the rankings, but also with an unresolved issue. Against Alejandro Galán and Federico Chingotto, they led in both sets before ultimately losing 7-5, 6-2. Their problem is no longer getting into the match; it now lies in maintaining the momentum they manage to establish.

Two successful starts, then thirteen out of fifteen games lost.

The final score gives the impression of a semi-final controlled by the number 2s. Its unfolding was less linear.

Paquito and Di Nenno initially led 3-0 in the first set. They then immediately broke their opponent's serve in the second to take a 2-0 lead. However, in both sets, their advantage amounted to only one break.

The rest of the match highlights the difference between building an advantage and maintaining it. After going up 3-0, Galán and Chingotto won seven of the next nine games to take the first set 7-5. From 0-2 down in the second, they reeled off six consecutive games.

By combining the two sequences that followed Paquito and Di Nenno's favorable starts, the number 2 players won thirteen out of fifteen games. This goes beyond a simple slump.

Galán–Chingotto did not need to completely reverse their plan

It would be tempting to explain these shifts by a radical change of target or by Paquito being sidelined. The reality on the field is quite different: Galán and Chingotto gradually deprived their opponents of the fast break situations that had fueled their early innings.

When Paquito and Di Nenno can move forward, play close to the net, and get involved early in the rally, their complementary skills work. Di Nenno brings speed and pressure to his crosscourt game. Paquito can then close down the middle, vary his shots, and use his reading of the game.

But when the point has to be rebuilt several times, the balance of power shifts. Chingotto accepts this volume of play without trying to accelerate too early. Galán can wait for a shallower ball to gain more ground in the middle. The Spanish-Argentine pair is then forced to win an extra ball before achieving a truly offensive position.

The change isn't necessarily dramatic. It's based on repetition: one more lob to play, one more volley to control, another net return to organize. It's precisely in this continuity that Galán–Chingotto still maintain an edge.

A problem with net control rather than power

This semi-final does not show a pair incapable of hurting the number 2s. It shows a pair that is not yet able to maintain the conditions long enough to do so.

Paquito and Di Nenno secured a break in each set. They thus found, at least temporarily, answers to the return. However, their own serves gradually ceased to produce comfortable service games. In the second set, they failed to win a single game after leading 2-0.

The issue isn't just the quality of the serve. The serve must allow the pair to establish themselves at the net and then defend that position. Galán and Chingotto excel at hitting a low first volley, pushing back their opponents, or using the center to create hesitation.

In this situation, Di Nenno has to cover a lot of ground diagonally to Chingotto. Paquito faces a difficult choice: stay in his zone, risking fewer interventions, or tighten up his cover and open up his flank more. The longer the rally lasts, the more often this decision needs to be made.

The difficulty therefore stems less from a lack of power than from the impossibility, for the moment, of maintaining the initiative in the long term.

Fourth place validates the project, but not yet its ability to beat the Top 2

The defeat does not jeopardize Paquito and Di Nenno's progress. Their quarter-final victory against Franco Stupaczuk and Jon Sanz, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, will allow them to become the world's fourth-ranked pair starting with Rotterdam P2. A week earlier, they had already pushed Galán–Chingotto to a third-set tiebreak in Madrid.

The repetition of these results confirms their place among the top four associations at the moment. It also highlights their next project.

Paquito and Di Nenno have a game plan capable of surprising even the best pairs and taking a set, a break, or several consecutive games from them. Against Galán and Chingotto, however, this initial plan is not yet accompanied by such a reliable solution when the opponent slows the match down, increases the intensity, and gradually regains control of the middle.

Their rise to fourth place rewards their newfound consistency. To close the gap with the top two pairs, they will now need to translate their strong starts into a level playing field capable of withstanding their opponents' adjustments.

Antoine Tricolet

I discovered the Padel I stumbled into Spain at a campsite. I was instantly hooked; passionate about padel, I follow international and regional news with the same excitement as the sport itself.

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