Kuwait Major, day 1: comebacks, wild cards on the canvas and the seeds still waiting
The Kuwait Major men's draw opened with 16 first-round matches and no seeded casualties — the top pairs are still unbeaten until Monday. Rubini-Chozas and Ortega-Axelsson pulled off the comebacks of the day, Kuwait's three wild cards fell heavily and Ruiz-López took out Aguirre-Lijó. Monday brings Stupaczuk-Sanz's debut and the start of the women's draw.
Redacción PalaComparer · · 4 min read
The Rafa Nadal Academy Kuwait opened the main draw of the Kuwait Major — the first Major in Asia's history — on Sunday with a men's first round of modest label but long reach: the sixteen seeds are exempt until the round of 32, so the day was settled between qualifiers, lucky losers and the three local wild cards. The outcome: match by match, no upsets at the top, but comebacks that make a season.
The day of the comebacks
The most painful one belonged to Jensen-Gala: they took the first set 6-1 against Argentines Rubini-Chozas and had the ticket in hand until the second set slipped away in the tiebreak. The Argentines closed it out 1-6, 7-6(5) and 6-4 in 2h20 to reach the round of 32, where Jofre-Esbrí (13) await. Down the same road went the qualifier duo Ortega-Axelsson: they came back on Gutiérrez-Sánchez Blasco with a 4-6, 7-6(7) and 6-3 to sneak into the round of 32. And in the late session, Belluati-Abud left Martínez-Hernández Quesada stranded by 3-6, 6-2 and 7-5.
The upset: Ruiz-López take down Aguirre-Lijó
If one result from day 1 deserves a frame, it's Valentín Ruiz and Facundo López beating Leonel Aguirre and Pablo Lijó 7-5, 0-6 and 6-2. A statement from an unseeded pair now sitting among the last 32 of a Major. More serene passages came from González San Martín-Cabeza over Geens-Guichard (6-2, 6-3) and from Abbate-Dal Bianco, who gave Valenzuela-Gil no chance (6-3, 6-1).
Kuwait's wild cards, on the canvas
Local padel is still learning: the Nawaf brothers lasted 48 minutes against Capra-Sánchez (2-6 and 0-6), the invitees Redha-Miñano fell to Goenaga-Collado (2-6, 3-6) and Castillo-Hossam did likewise against Perino-Domínguez (3-6, 3-6). In the women's draw, wild cards Al Qenaei-Guimet and Hasan-Atencia debut this Monday.
The women's qualifying, with casualties
The final qualifying round took out three seeds: Carrascosa-Fernández García eliminated third favourites Arellano-Cortiles (5-7, 6-3, 6-4), Bahurel-Val López swept the fourth seeds Rose-López (6-3, 6-2), and Dubins-Luttikhuis needed 3 hours and 27 minutes to knock out the seventh seeds Pérez Parra-Santos: 7-5, 5-7 and 7-6(6).
This Monday: the favourites debut
Monday brings the first heavyweight clashes: Stupaczuk-Sanz (4) open the centre court against Fernández Lancha-Diestro, Guerrero-Leal (7) start against Mouriño-Quílez, Di Nenno-Navarro (5) measure Montiel-Santigosa and González-Campagnolo (8) face Sintes-Zamora. The women's draw begins its first round with Triay-Brea, Josemaría-González, Ari Sánchez-Ustero and Fernández-Calvo debuting on Tuesday. Coello and Tapia, who can virtually seal the year-end No. 1 in Kuwait, start directly in the round of 32.
