Dubai crowns its Bronze winners before the P1 returns

Julián Lacamoire and Adrián Ronco López reached Sunday’s final in Dubai without losing a completed set. When that changed against the top seeds, they had to find another way to win. A second tiebreak kept their challenge alive before a six to three deciding set secured the FIP Bronze DAMAC Dubai title against Pablo Sánchez Vicente and Ignacio Archieri.

The full score, six to seven, seven to six, six to three, describes a final in which neither partnership could establish much distance through the first two sets. Lacamoire and Ronco lost the opening tiebreak by seven points to five, then won the next by seven to four. After several more comfortable results, the title depended on their ability to keep the match going when another lost set would have ended it.

The third seeds had beaten second seeds Nicolas Zurita and Diego Arredondo García by six to one, six to two in the semi finals. Before that, they defeated Manuel Rocafort Lores and Javier Rodríguez Navarro in the quarter finals. Their opening match against the UAE’s Abdullah Alabdulla and Spain’s Javier López García ended in retirement after the eventual champions won the first set seven to five.

The women’s final also required a recovery. Angelina Neizvestnaya and Gimena Sol Pérez beat Constança Gorito and Martina Minetti by four to six, six to two, six to four to finish the week as champions. Like the men’s winners, they had arrived at the final without dropping a set, only to find themselves having to repair an early deficit in the match that mattered most.

Neizvestnaya and Pérez, seeded fourth, had beaten Patricia Ribeiro and Mafalda Marques, the second seeds, by six to three, six to one in the semi finals. Gorito and Minetti had earned their own place by removing top seeds Rebeca López and Nika Sluzhiteleva in straight sets. The final therefore brought together two partnerships which had already beaten opponents ranked above them in the draw.

For Neizvestnaya, Dubai continued a productive run through Asia with different partners. She won in Jakarta in July alongside Elsa Terranova, then returned to the top of the podium with Terranova at the FIP Bronze High Velocity Phuket earlier this month. They beat Jimena Díaz and Alba Vázquez in that final. Winning again with Pérez adds another successful partnership to her season rather than simply repeating an established combination.

Lacamoire also arrived with a more substantial title already behind him. In June he won the FIP Gold in Shanghai with Facundo López, beating Denis Perino and Arnau Ayats in the final by six to two, six to four. That result helps explain why a Bronze draw can contain players with experience of winning further up the competition structure. The category alone does not make the trophy easy to secure.

The Dubai event took place at World Padel Academy in Al Quoz, with qualifying beginning on September 22 and the main draw following two days later. Its indoor courts hosted a busy Friday programme containing both the second round and quarter finals, before the weekend’s closing matches. For players who advanced, there was little time to settle for a single good result before another opponent had to be beaten.

This was the UAE’s fourth CUPRA FIP Tour event of the season, with players from more than 30 countries taking part. The regional presence extended beyond the host nation to Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Iran. Against that background, Dubai’s value to the circuit is quite tangible: players from the region can face a broad international field in a competition close to home.

The women’s draw included the UAE pairing of Fatima Alawadhi and Shamma Ahmed Altamimi, who lost to Princess Jean Naquila and En Wong in the opening round. Oman’s Fatma Al Nabhani and Maryam Al Balushi entered as the seventh seeds. These are useful details when considering what a local tournament provides. Its place on the calendar creates actual competitive meetings, with results that can be examined and improved on at the next event.

The ranking rewards also put the weekend in perspective. A FIP Bronze title brings 40 points to each winner. Silver awards 80, Gold 150 and Platinum 300, while a Premier Padel P1 title is worth 1,000. The difference is large, but the points belong to the same wider ranking system. A Bronze tournament offers a measurable return for progress at a level where those smaller additions can matter.

The winners have earned points and a title; neither comes with an automatic place in Dubai’s P1. Their longer term prospects depend on building a competitive record, with entry to each tournament determined separately.

Dubai’s next major point of attention is already fixed. The Emaar Dubai Premier Padel P1 will run from November 8 to 15 at Hamdan Sports Complex, bringing men’s and women’s competition back to the city. The announcement of Emaar as title partner earlier this month confirmed those dates and the venue, giving local supporters a clear next event to plan around.

At World Padel Academy, local spectators could follow UAE entrants alongside visiting partnerships across a complete international tournament. Both champion pairs reached the final without losing a completed set, then recovered from dropping the opener on Sunday. Lacamoire and Ronco did so against the top seeds, while Neizvestnaya and Pérez beat the third seeds. The P1 will bring a larger points contest to Dubai in November; the Bronze week has already given the city two finals that needed a third set.