After the historic battle of Gutierrez : ”The last person I wanted to face”

It was a historic moment in the last World Padel Tour tournament in Marbella. On one side stood Sanyo Gutierrez together with his nephew Cristian Gutierrez. On the other side stood another nephew to Sanyo, Agustin Gutierrez. ”He was the last person I wanted to face in my weak position,” Sanyo Gutierrez said about Agustin Gutierrez. 

Sanyo Gutierrez chose to replace the injured Fernando Belasteguin with the son of his sister, Cristian Gutierrez. 

A request that surprised the 80-ranked Cristian Gutierrez. 

— I did not expect it, but we have made some jokes about it. Like: ”One day, we will play together.” So I felt very happy when he asked me, Cristian Gutierrez says. 

What surprised him even more, was that the team had to face another nephew of Sanyo in the Round of 16, his brother's son Agustin Gutierrez. 

After Agustin Gutierrez's loss in the quarterfinals against the world number one´s, Alejandro Galan and Juan Lebron, Padel Alto met all three relatives in Marbella. 

Together with his partner Javi Martinez, the youngest, Agustin, won the ”battle of the Gutierrez.” 

— I never thought it would happen that all three would be on the same court during a WPT match. It is historic, Sanyo Gutierrez says. 

All three are very close and usually practice together. For example, back home in San Luis in Argentina, they always played together, now they usually train together four times a week. 

Just last week, the same constellation as in the Round of 16 met at training. 

— In formal we are relatives, but we are all friends and very close. Last week, we played, and it was 1-1 in sets, Sanyo Gutierrez says. 

When he saw that they would face Agustin Gutierrez in the round of 16, he was happy, but he also knew that it would be a tough match. Since both Sanyo and Cristian are in the same position, he played in the wrong position as a backhand player and Agustin knows his game very well. 

— For 12 years, I have played with Agustin. It was the last person I wanted to face in my weak position. It was the worse cause Agustin knows me so well. 

After Sanyo´s and Cristian´s victory in the Round of 32 against Miguel Semmler and Javi Leal, Bela called Sanyo. 

— He called me and said that I did well in the backhand position, Sanyo says. 

The” battle of the Gutierrez” was 7-6, 6-4 in favor of Agustin, the youngest one. In their hometown of San Luis in Argentine, the whole family watched the game. 

— They all wanted to be here, Cristian Gutierrez says. 

— They wanted it to be like a football match, zero zero, Sanyo says and laughs.

The win was for Agustin not only an important victory against his relatives. It also meant that the 23-year-old reached the quarter-finals for the first time on the World Padel Tour.

— It was a very special moment for me. I came here as the last one to Spain. I never thought this would happen. Of course, I hoped to play against Bela and Sanyo one day, but I never thought the three of us would face each other, Agustin says. 

And about the match? 

— We had a bit of luck in the first set. Then, in the second, we had to stay very concentrated. It was the most important for us. 

The next tournament is in Valladolid. It is also a Master tournament. Many thought that Fernando Belasteguin would miss this tournament as well. But his recovery has been faster than expected, which means that there was only one tournament for Sanyo and his nephew.  

It also means that Cristian Gutierrez goes back to play with his regular partner, Marc Quilez.