“I’m going to give it my all this afternoon because I have to win a gold medal.” Sofia Araújo had said this a few hours earlier to the Portuguese Padel Federation (FPP), with the women’s bronze medal still slipping through her fingers. It wasn’t a promise; it was a warning. And that afternoon, she delivered. The Portuguese pair, siblings Sofia and Peu Araújo, won the gold medal in the mixed doubles final at the 20th Mediterranean Games on Friday 28 August, after defeating the Italians Giulia Dal Pozzo and Marco Cassetta in two sets (6-2, 3-6 and 6-3).
The final got off to a flying start for Portugal. Sofía and Peu Araújo played at a good pace, found the gaps and forced one break point after another, eventually taking the first set 6–2. In the second set, although the start was evenly matched, a moment of loss of concentration whilst Peu Araújo was serving in the sixth game allowed the Italians to break the Portuguese pair’s serve and take the lead (4–2). With their lead secured and buoyed by a passionate crowd, Cassetta and Dal Pozzo simply had to hold serve to take the match into a decisive third set.
Following the mandatory 10-minute heat break, Portugal returned determined to recapture the form they had shown in the first set. By the second game, they had already broken serve and taken a 2-0 lead. However, Italy did not give up and reacted immediately with a break back. In the fifth game, history repeated itself, but in reverse: Italy managed to break Peu Araújo’s serve and, straight away, the Portuguese broke Dal Pozzo’s serve to level the score at 3–3. In the eighth game came the decisive blow: a break by the Araújos to make it 5–3. On their serve, Portugal didn’t falter; 6–3, the match was over, and Portugal secured their first mixed padel gold medal at the Mediterranean Games.
After their victory, Sofia and Peu Araújo shared the pride of representing their country and, at the same time, doing so together as siblings. “This victory is a source of immense pride, and I don’t think there could have been anyone better to have by my side than my brother,” Sofia told the Portuguese Olympic Committee.
As for the match, Peu admitted that “it wasn’t easy; we already knew it was going to be a tough match. We won the first set quite comfortably, but then we let our intensity drop a little and that’s when things got tricky. Whether we like it or not, the crowd also has an influence. In the third set, I let my intensity drop again, but we managed to hang on and achieve our goal, so I’m very happy.”
In the same vein, Sofia emphasised what ultimately made the difference when their strength began to wane: the bond between the two of them. “In the third set, I think it was our bond that made us win, because we were very tired; I was very tired, both physically and mentally. When I started to struggle physically, Peu helped me; then he started to struggle a bit and I had to help him. So I think our bond was unique. And the gold is ours!”
From this Friday, both players have etched their names into the history of Portuguese padel and that of the Mediterranean Games, having won the first mixed doubles gold medal in the first edition in which padel has officially formed part of the competition programme.
