Kuwait Major: Bidahorria and Riera take out Salazar-Osoro, Coello-Tapia wrap in 54 minutes — the favourites debut today

If Monday belonged to Sintes and Zamora, Tuesday at the Kuwait Major belonged to the favourites… and to an Argentine strike on the women's draw. Julieta Bidahorria and Virginia Riera knocked out eighth seeds Alejandra Salazar and Aranza Osoro 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 in two hours and five minutes, the biggest upset of the week alongside Sunday's. And on Wednesday the tournament shifts gears: round of 16, with the world's four best women's pairs finally making their debuts.

The Argentine strike: the FIP Tour rule

Bidahorria and Riera (world No. 21) are no fluke: this season they have won three titles together on the CUPRA FIP Tour (Nairobi, Seville and Amsterdam), and Riera counts eight titles this year with different partners — one of the highest win percentages on the secondary tour. Both will represent Argentina at next week's FIP World Cup, and against Salazar-Osoro they showed why: they dropped the second set and then dominated the decider.

For Salazar and Osoro the blow is double: they were fighting for a spot in the Barcelona Finals, and that window now narrows — the Dubai P1 and November's Mexico Major are all they have left. The Argentines, meanwhile, play for a quarter-final place today against Lorena Rufo and Victoria Iglesias (13).

The Golden Boys, on an outing

In their centre-court opener, Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia (1) needed 54 minutes to dispatch Flavio Abbate and Franco Dal Bianco: 6-3, 6-0, business as usual. The number they are chasing: lifting the title on Saturday would secure their fourth consecutive season as world No. 1s in the FIP Ranking.

Leo Augsburger and Juan Lebrón (3) also opened with a win on their revenge path after the Milan final: 6-4, 6-3 in 1h18 over Juan Cruz Belluati and Martín Abud, the qualifying pair behind the comeback of the opening day. Coki Nieto and Mike Yanguas (6) suffered most: 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 against José Solano and Rama Pereyra in 2h10, with Nieto back after missing Düsseldorf and Milan through injury and recovering from an early break in the deciding set. Their stated goal: finishing the year as the Tour's fourth-ranked team ahead of Stupaczuk-Sanz and Paquito-Di Nenno.

Garrido-De Pascual, added to the list

Tuesday also claimed the men's sixteenth seeds: Enrique Goenaga and Guillermo Collado repeated Sintes-Zamora's trick against Jairo Garrido and Juan De Pascual (16), 6-2, 7-6(4) in 1h40. The reward weighs, though: Coello-Tapia await them today in the centre-court night session. Also through: Tello-Arce (9) over Ortega-Axelsson (6-4, 4-6, 6-3), Bautista-Bergamini (10) over Capra-Sánchez (7-6(5), 6-3) and Perino-Domínguez over qualifiers Moya-Leygue (6-2, 5-7, 6-4).

In the women's draw, the day sent warnings: Marta Ortega and Sofia Araújo (5) swept Ortiz-Ferreyra in 42 minutes (6-1, 6-0), Tamara Icardo and Claudia Jensen (6) and Verónica Virseda and Marta Fassio (10) advanced with authority, and the qualifying fairy tales faded one by one: Rufo-Iglesias (13) ended Manquillo-Lucía Sainz's run, Guinart-Alonso (7) closed Carrascosa-Fernández's dream and Talaván-Saiz took out Jessica Castelló and Mapi Rodríguez (16) in 2h34. The marathon of the day: Velasco-Eugenio (11), 3h03 to survive Cánovas-Lobo.

Wednesday: the four best pairs in the world debut

The women's round of 16 welcomes its queens: Gemma Triay and Delfi Brea (1) against Talaván-Saiz, Bea González and Paula Josemaría (2) against Montes-Barrera, Ari Sánchez and Andrea Ustero (3) — three titles from the last four events — against Fassio-Virseda, and Martina Calvo and Claudia Fernández (4) against Velasco-Eugenio. With 2,000 points on offer, Triay-Brea defend their Major crown (four of the six played since joining forces, including this season's Italy Major), while Josemaría-Bea need the title to stay alive in the battle for year-end No. 1.

In the men's draw, centre court deals out spice: Stupaczuk-Sanz (4) open against Jofre-Esbrí (12:00 in Spain), Libaak-Alfonso take on Lebrón-Augsburger (not before 16:00) and Coello-Tapia close against Goenaga-Collado (18:00). On court 2, Sintes and Zamora can ring the bell again against Javi García-Álex Ruiz (12:00), and Bautista-Bergamini (10) versus Coki-Yanguas (6) is a direct duel in the fight for fourth place in the rankings.