Italy is in the final in the women's draw of the European Padel Championships, where tomorrow morning it will face the giants of Spain. A great result was achieved today at the Cagliari Tennis Club, at the end of a marathon that lasted seven hours to get the better of France. The match started at 9am and ended after 4pm, when the men's semi-final had already begun on the central court: a hard-fought success, arriving 2-1 after many upsets.
Victory . The first match saw Carlotta Casali and Emily Stellato concede the first set 6-4 to Pothier-Soubrie, but then the double 3-6 allowed Italy to take the opening match in 119'. The longest match followed: 2 hours and 41' for Carolina Orsi and Giulia Sussarello, who despite having overcome Collombon-Godallier 5-7, then lost the second 7-6(4) and the third 6-2 following a sudden change of direction by the opponents. In the decisive match, Giorgia Marchetti and Chiara Pappacena managed to keep it within the two sets: 5-7 3-6 over Ginier Barbier-Touly, with wild celebrations from the whole group at the final point which closed the discussion in 95'. All this while Spain had already comprehensively won over Portugal 3-0, with the three matches lasting a total of 2 hours and 45' and all won in two sets (three 6-0, one 6-1, one 6-2 and a 6-3).
The party. «The push certainly came from a combination of things», says Giorgia Marchetti on the final match. «With Chiara we are a close-knit couple even off the pitch, we then felt all the support from our teammates and the public. Then for us there has always been an extra motivation to win against France." Chiara Pappacena was of the same opinion: «It was a difficult match, against a fairly solid couple. It is among the most beautiful victories of my career, certainly the most heartfelt because we led the team to victory and the final." For all the girls from Italy, the prize they get for the final is a swim at Poetto, before thinking about Spain.
The masculine. At 4pm, while the women's semi-final was still underway, the men's draw at the European Padel Championships also began: here too Italy-France and Spain-Portugal meet for positions 1 to 4. The finals tomorrow.
