DUSSELDORF: Spanish duo Ariana Sanchez and Paula Josemaria won the women’s title at the 2023 German Padel Open title. Meanwhile, their compatriots Juan Lebron and Alejandro Galan won the men’s title of the German Padel Open on Sunday. BNK Holding is the official sponsor of Spanish padel players Ariana Sanchez and Juan Lebron.

In an electrifying atmosphere on the center court at the Castello in Dusseldorf, the women’s and men’s finals offered top class padel. In the all-Spanish women’s final, the duo Gemma Triay (world no. 3)/Marta Ortega (6) faced off against the world’s undisputed No. 1 team this year: of Sanchez and Josemaria. The match was a rematch of the recent Madrid final. At the Masters final in the Spanish capital, Triay/Ortega lost to their compatriots Sanchez/Josemaría in two sets 3-6 and 6-7 - now they had the chance for revenge just one week later.

After an even start, Sanchez/Josemaría tightened the reins and took the first set 6-3. In the second set, too, it initially looked as if the world no. 1 and no. 2 would bring the match home safely. Triay/Ortega, however, showed comeback qualities and fought their way into the tiebreak. In the tiebreak, however, Sanchez and Josemaria showed nerves of steel - and the final result was 6-3 and 7-6 for the leading female duo of the World Padel Tour (WPT), just like in Madrid. The two Spaniards thus completed the dozen: the triumph in Düsseldorf was already their twelfth WPT tournament victory this year.

The successful duo Sanchez/Josemaria looked correspondingly happy after the match: “We are very happy about the victory here in Dusseldorf. By winning the first WPT tournament on German soil, we were able to write a small piece of padel history, which makes us very proud,” said the two beaming with joy. Ariana Sánchez was also voted the tournament’s most valuable player in the women’s competition.

The two Spaniards Galan (5) and Lebron (6) entered the grand final in Dusseldorf with the momentum from their semifinal victory against the number 1 duo Arturo Coello/Agustin Tapia. But with Martin Di Nenno (3) and Franco Stupaczuk (4) they had a tough task ahead of them. The two Argentines traveled to Dusseldorf with the recommendation of the Masters tournament victory a week ago in Madrid.

Lebron and Galan started like fire. Already after 26 minutes, the two led 5/0. Di Nenno and Stupaczuk owned the next two games. But it was no more than a brief revival of the two Argentines. After 38 minutes, Lebron and Galan closed the bag in the first set - 6-2.

Whoever thought that Galan and Lebrón would now let up was mistaken.

The two Spaniards were determined to win and left no doubt about it. After just 1 hour and 12 minutes, the scoreboard at the Castello showed 6-2 and 6-2. An impressive victory for Galan and Lebron and only their second ever in this year’s WPT series. Galan had another reason to be happy, he was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the men’s competition at the BOSS German Padel Open.

Galan and Lebron were also proud after their triumph in Dusseldorf: “Winning the tournament premiere in Germany means a lot to us,” the two said at the award ceremony. There will not be a big party. “But after the flight home we will certainly toast the victory again,” said the two champions.