Former world No.1s shine in Milan as Salazar begins her farewell and FIP rankings change

Alejandra Salazar begins her final Milano P1 campaign before retiring at the end of 2026. Partnering Aranzazu Osoro, she faces Alix Collombon and Ksenia Sharifova at 09:30 CEST on Tuesday 13 October. Salazar shares the record of 58 professional titles with Gemma Triay and has reached three CUPRA FIP Tour finals this season. The tournament organisers have highlighted her determination to remain competitive throughout her farewell year.

Eighteen-year-old Spanish player Manuel Castano and partner Pol Hernandez defeated Dani Santigosa and Alvaro Montiel 6-4, 7-6 in one hour and 56 minutes. Their next opponents are eleventh seeds Jairo Bautista and Lucas Bergamini. The result is a promising development for Spain's emerging generation of professional players.

Javi Barahona and Nacho Piotto defeated Marco Cassetta and Fabian Oviedo 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 in the Milano P1 opening round. The match lasted two hours and 20 minutes. The partnership arrived in Milan immediately after winning the FIP Silver Stratford. They now face seventh seeds Momo Gonzalez and Lucas Campagnolo.

Mike Yanguas and Pablo Lijo are seeded eighth at Milano P1 following Coki Nieto's injury-related absence. They begin against Javi Ruiz and Jose Luis Gonzalez on Tuesday. Their section of the draw creates a possible quarter-final against defending champions Galan and Chingotto, although both partnerships must first progress through earlier rounds.

Former world No.1 Sanyo Gutierrez and Maxi Sanchez Blasco defeated Nacho Vilarino and Juan Zamora 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in the Milano P1 opening round. The victory extends Gutierrez's tournament campaign and provides another opportunity to test his experience against stronger opposition.

Pol Hernandez and Manuel Castano defeated Dani Santigosa and Alvaro Montiel 6-4, 7-6, while Arnau Ayats and Emilio Sanchez Chamero defeated Aris Patiniotis and Diego Garcia 7-5, 7-5. Montiel and Patiniotis are members of Italy's World Cup squad. The results demonstrate the competitiveness of Spanish players outside the leading seeded partnerships.

Amanda Lopez and Camila Fassio defeated Italian World Cup selections Caterina Baldi and Clarissa Aima 6-3, 6-1 in just 57 minutes. The result secured the Spanish partnership a place in the Milano P1 women's main draw.

Spanish partnership Marta Borrero and Teresa Navarro recovered from losing the opening set to defeat Lorena Vano and Carmen Castillon 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 in the final round of women's qualifying. The victory secured their place in the Milano P1 main draw.

Veronica Virseda and Martina Fassio defeated Emily Stellato and Giulia Sussarello 6-2, 6-0 to win the FIP Silver Stratford. The result follows their FIP Gold Perugia title the previous week. The FIP officially confirmed the Stratford result on 12 October. Virseda has also won FIP Platinum titles in Albania and Paredes during 2026.

Nuria Rodriguez partnered Giulia Dal Pozzo to defeat Julieta Bidahorria and Virginia Riera 6-4, 6-4 in the FIP Silver Porec women's final. In the men's competition, Pablo Garcia partnered Tolito Aguirre to defeat Ramiro Valenzuela and Xisco Gil 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Both results were officially confirmed by the FIP on 12 October.

The FIP Gold Ciudad de Sevilla is officially scheduled from 14 to 18 October at ICONICO Sports and Social. The tournament offers 50000 euros in prize money, with the main draw beginning Friday 16 October. Qualifying activity is scheduled earlier in the week if required. The event provides an important Spanish professional tournament alongside Milano P1.

The official FIP individual rankings published on 12 October show Franco Stupaczuk rising one place to world No.7 with 6090 points. Jon Sanz also climbs one position to No.9 with 5590 points. Paquito Navarro drops to No.8 on 6070 points, while Mike Yanguas falls to No.10 on 5580. The changes follow Stupaczuk and Sanz's strong recent tournament performances.

Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia remain joint world No.1s on 19840 points each. Alejandro Galan and Federico Chingotto occupy joint third position on 16860 points. Coello and Tapia enter Milano P1 following three consecutive tournament victories in Paris, Rotterdam and Dusseldorf.

The updated women's FIP rankings show Gemma Triay and Delfi Brea joint first on 15700 points. Bea Gonzalez is third, Ari Sanchez fourth, Paula Josemaria fifth, Claudia Fernandez sixth, Andrea Ustero seventh and Martina Calvo eighth. Seven of these eight positions are occupied by Spanish players, demonstrating Spain's strength at the highest level of women's professional padel.

The women's FIP Race published on 12 October places Ari Sanchez and Andrea Ustero jointly third individually on 9040 points each. Paula Josemaria and Bea Gonzalez are jointly fifth on 9020 points each. Triay and Brea remain ahead on 11660 points. The Race measures season-long performance and is separate from the individual world rankings.

The world No.1 partnership will begin its Milano P1 campaign on Wednesday 14 October against Arnau Ayats and Emilio Sanchez Chamero. Coello and Tapia arrive after winning the Paris Major, Rotterdam P2 and Germany P2. Defending champions Galan and Chingotto also begin Wednesday, facing Portuguese brothers Miguel and Nuno Deus.

Italian international footballer Nicolo Barella attended Monday's Milano P1 matches specifically to support Marco Cassetta and Fabian Oviedo. He watched their three-set defeat against Javi Barahona and Nacho Piotto and was visibly involved in encouraging the Italian partnership. The tournament organiser highlighted his attendance as evidence of padel's growing appeal among elite footballers.

The Milano organisers are highlighting Alejandra Salazar's final appearance in Italy before her planned retirement at the end of 2026. Her opening match is scheduled for 09:30 CEST on Tuesday. The combination of her achievements, continuing competitiveness and approaching retirement provides a strong verified human-interest story.

Martina Fassio celebrated her second consecutive tournament victory alongside Veronica Virseda following their Stratford success. Nacho Piotto also commented positively on his partnership with Javi Barahona, emphasising their progress and upcoming tournaments. The FIP published the player comments alongside its official championship report on 12 October.

Salazar and Aranzazu Osoro face Alix Collombon and Ksenia Sharifova at 09:30 CEST on Centre Court. With Salazar retiring at the end of 2026, the match begins her final appearance at the Italian tournament.

Yanguas and Lijo face Ruiz and Gonzalez, Barahona and Piotto meet Gonzalez and Campagnolo, and Castano and Hernandez face Bautista and Bergamini. The matches provide important tests for Spanish players outside the two leading men's partnerships.

The women's first-round match begins no earlier than 18:00 CEST on Centre Court. Dal Pozzo and Rodriguez arrive as FIP Silver Porec champions. The Italian players on opposite sides will soon become national teammates at the FIP World Cup in Doha.