Rarely has an image been seen as sad as this afternoon at the Valladolid Master, with a dejected and inconsolable Sanyo Gutiérrez on the bench seat. Serious gesture, head bowed, abstracted from the world, cursing his party in which he was never the great player and protagonist who raises collective admiration. Today Sanyo assumed firsthand the defeat in the initial round of this tournament against Campagnolo and Javi Garrido: 7-6, 4-6 and 6-3. When she perked up a little on the track, Momo González wanted to lend a hand beyond his part to get the Argentine out of decay, and it almost turned out worse. But these things happen in the Plaza Mayor, in an outdoor tournament, where the wind, the rain, the heat and the sun of justice destroy the most seasoned.
That a top-level couple, a finalist three tournaments ago, falls to the first one is a surprise, but not the only one this Tuesday and Wednesday in which the first round of the draw has been played, because Ramiro Moyano and Xisco Gil were on the rise, and wham: Mario del Castillo and Benítez send them home, 6-2 and 6-4. Nor does it progress Pablo Lima with Ivan Ramírez who fell in three sleeves against Guerrero and Ayants: 6-7, 6-4 and 7-6. The other surprise came from Maxi Sánchez and Lucho Capra, who, down 0-5 in the third set, outmatched in all fields by Rubio and Arroyo, were able to come back from behind 7-6 to win the match. 6-7, 6-4 and 7-6.
In the women’s draw, the normal thing happened within the logical order imposed by the ranking: in eighths are the best couples fighting for the 2,000 points for the champions. It is striking that some of the best Italians, who have given up this appointment to play the European Gamesthe first paddle tennis tournament lowers the umbrella of the IOC, and to which Spain has sent four U-21 couples that compete in the WPT; the rest have declined the offer of the Federation. That is why Paty Llaguno does not play with Orsi (she was achieving results with the Italian) and does so with Nuria Rodríguez, and on Thursday they will have a difficult match against Delfina Brea and Bea González.