The WPT expert after Vigo Open: ”He was the MVP”

The World Padel Tour expert and the former Argentinian professional padel player, Mauri Andrini, gives his answer to Padel Alto after the third World Padel Tournament, Vigo Open.
— The MVP of the tournament was Martin Di Nenno, he says. 

— I believe that all the players and all the pair were playing in the right conditions in Vigo. It was no excuses in this tournament. The speed of the ball was good enough. They had to make the right decision in every hit. The conditions were great.

2. It has been many surprises so far in this World Padel Tour season. What surprises you most in this tournament? 

— Of course, the two young Mr. Leal and Mr. Semmler. These two guys went from the pre-qualify to the quarter-final. I used to play at this level, and I know how hard it is. You can only watch WPT from the quarter-finals to the finals now, but all that earlier matches are absolutely amazing. These players are amazing, but no one knows about them. What surprises me most is that they are going to the quarter-final. You can go from pre-qualify to qualify or from the quality to the main draw. But going from the pre-qualify, through the qualification and then win two matches in the main draw. They lost the ninth match, and that is absolutely amazing. It wouldn't surprise me if a player went from the pre-qualify to the main draw. Federico Chingotto and Juan Tello have done it, Tapia, also. But what Javi Leal and Miguel Semmler did these days is absolutely amazing, and that really surprises me. 

3. Why did Bela and Sanyo win the Vigo Open? What game plan had they? 

— Bela was injured in his calf in the final since the match. Agustin Tapia made Bela run a lot in the semi-final, Mauri Andrini says and laughs. They had to decide to start doing what they had to do and started avoiding Paquito's smash. They started to put every lob in the second set to Martin Di Nenno, and he was playing unbelievably well. But from the second set, Bela and Sanyo started to play in that way they had to do. 

And Virginia Riera and Patricia Llaguno? 

— For me, Patty is one of the most talented players on earth. She is absolutely amazing, together with Virginia Riera, who is a proper right-side player that trains a lot. In the second set, Gemma Triay and Alejandra Salazar started to have a bad feeling, and Patricia Llaguno and Virginia Riera played 85 percent of their performance the whole match. It is painful to play against players who never miss a shot and play tactically well as Llaguno and Riera did. That was amazing to see, and that was why they won.   

4. Do you think we already can see a split in any of the pair after Vigo Open? 

— I am not sure about that. It is too early of the year to talk about that. Players just started playing together. For example, have Agustin Tapia and Pablo Lima not played against Sanyo and Bela before this semi-final in Vigo. I would not make a decision already if I were a player. At some point, it could happen, but I don't think it is the right time to split up now. Perhaps it would happen a lot in the pre-qualification pairs but not in the main draw. 

4. Who was the best player in Vigo Open? 

— For me, The MVP player of the tournament was Martin Di Nenno. I will always give the MVP to Bela to play that good level when he turned 42. But if I had to choose one player from Vigo, I would say that Di Nenno was the best player in the whole tournament. He was doing his partner better and had been training very hard. He is physically very strong. And had a massive accident four years ago. Now he is back and going to the final for the first time. It tells a lot about a player. I will give him the MVP, not only because of how he played. But also the mental point of view, Mauri Andrini says. 

— On the women´s side, I would like to give it to Patty Llaguno. She is a great team player, it was Riera's first time in the final, and she won it. 

5. So, the Vigo Open is over for this time. Now, we are looking forward to Santander Open. What are you looking forward to most in that tournament? 

— I am curious about Juan Lebron and Alejandro Galan. When you get to finals and wins, it is much easier to carry on with your daily training. Now, I think they have a lot of questions on their mind. Questions like: What was better last year? Are the other teams better than us now? I would like to see how they react to this situation. I am also curious about Chingotto and Tello that went out in the round of 32. How are they going to manage if this happens again? Their expectations are much higher than this level. At least they expect to reach the semi-final, even finals. These last tournaments have been hard for them. I think they will play together at least in a few more tournaments. Lastly, Agustin Silingo and Mati Diaz. Last year they did a great job together. This season they have only won one match. Mati Diaz has played with Paquito, Ale Galan, and Stupaczuk. For everyone, he still is one of the best right-side players in the world. Now he is playing with Agustin Silingo, also a top player. But they are not finding a way to reach the quarter-finals. 

I am curious about Marta Ortega and Marta Marrero on the women's side. They haven't been to the semi-final yet. They should compete with Gemma Triay/Alejandra Salazar and Paula Josemaria/Ariana Sanchez. But they are actually not reaching that level. Also, Eli Amatriain and Sofia Araujo have not done good results so far. Let's see what happens in Santander.