Lifting a trophy at a tournament held in one’s own country is a special experience. At 4.30 pm Portuguese time (5.30 pm in Spain) on Sunday 16 August, the crowd gathered at the Vilamoura Tennis & Padel Academy to watch the Portuguese pair Catarina Santos and Alexandra Silva were crowned champions of the Vilamoura Summer Cup after defeating the Spanish-Portuguese pair of Isa Domínguez and Carina Costa in the final in three sets: 6-3, 4-6 and 6-2.
“A final is always a final, which is why it’s always a tough match, regardless of who the opponents are. We played our first match of the tournament outdoors, but then we played indoors; ultimately, the conditions are always different and we had to adapt, but I think it went well,” said Catarina Santos after the match.
After a second set in which Carina Costa and Isa Domínguez stepped up their game to level the score, Alexandra Silva found the key to tackling the deciding set thanks to her team-mate’s words: “Catarina said something between the second and third sets and I think that was key: ‘We’ve got to enjoy ourselves whilst playing; if we enjoy ourselves, everything goes better and we win. Or maybe not, but we’ll be more likely to win’,” admits Silva.
With another title under their belts, Catarina Santos — ranked 10th in Portugal’s senior national rankings — and Alexandra Silva — ranked 4th — remain fully committed to their partnership: “We’re going to play together until the end of the season. In the last week of August, we’ll be playing in a FIP Bronze tournament in Belgrade, and after that, we haven’t decided yet,” said Santos.
The ‘Pedros’ dominated from start to finish
Following the women’s final, it was the men’s turn. On court, the Portuguese pair Peu Araújo and Pedro Graça faced their compatriot Vasco Pascoal (currently number 4 in Portugal’s senior national rankings) and the Spaniard Samuel Alós. The match brought to mind a recent encounter: the FIP Silver Mimosa Open Porto, held in July this year, where the two pairs met in the quarter-finals, with Araújo and Graça emerging victorious. At the Vilamoura Summer Cup, history repeated itself. In just two sets, the leaders of Portugal’s national rankings convincingly defeated the Spanish-Portuguese pair 6-3, 6-0.
“The strategy was to play our own game. Vasco and Samu are good players, not particularly aggressive, and they’ve had good results outdoors. Even so, it went well; I think we played very well; we adapted well to their style of play,” said Pedro Graça after the match.
With this victory, the ‘Pedros’ have added another title to their honours list before setting off for Taranto (Italy) to represent the Portuguese national team at the 20th Mediterranean Games.
Vilamoura Summer Cup
The Vilamoura Summer Cup has established itself as a key event on the Portuguese competitive circuit. Backed by the Portuguese Padel Federation, it offers prize money of €10,000 for the M1 and F1 categories. However, the event is not limited to the professional level: the senior and Class 10,000 tournaments open their courts to players of all levels — from 1 to 6 — fostering a harmonious atmosphere on the circuit.
“This tournament has already become a classic fixture in August,” says Pedro Frazão, owner of the event’s official venue, the Vilamoura Tennis & Padel Academy. “There used to be no tournaments at this time of year, so we decided to organise this event. The first edition exceeded our expectations to such an extent that, nowadays, August features entire weekends of competitions.” Next up is the 4th Open Padel4move by M Concept Home, an official senior tournament and a Class 5,000 event to be held in Albufeira from 19 to 23 August.
