Big surprise in the first WPT Master of the year — Russian ready for the Round of 16

Russian Ksenia Sharifova and her partner Raquel Segura have surprised the entire padel world in Marbella's first WPT Master of the year. Now the team is ready for the Round of 16. 

The first World Padel Tour Master of the year is underway in Marbella. And there's a big surprise when we arrive at the Round of 16. Russian Ksenia Sharifova with her partner Raquel Segura has surprised everyone. 

On Wednesday, they took their fifth straight win from qualifying to the main round and are now through to Thursday's Round of 16. 

”We left our soul today. We fought to the last, looked for solutions, and believed in ourselves”, writes Ksenia Sharifova on her Instagram page. 

Sharifova is ranked 118, and Raquel Segura is ranked 103 on the World Padel Tour rankings. On Wednesday, they won against young talent Jimena Velasco, ranked 57th, and Aricela Martinez, ranked 60th, in the Round of 32.

Talent in tennis 

The 26-year-old Russian lives in Valencia and has previously been a great talent in tennis. However, the pair have not once reached Previa, the later stage of qualifying, and they have only played the main round of the WPT Challenger. 

The pair is now among the 16 couples left in the first Master tournament of the year, which is an incredible achievement.  

"Raquelita. We are among the last 16 in the WPT Marbella Master. Today's match says it all... Today we were both exhausted, very tired after winning four tough matches in pre-qualifying and qualifying with delays and 30-degree heat”, she writes.

In tomorrow's Round of 16, the team faces world-class opponents. Patty Llaguno and Virginia Riera will be on the other side of the net.