FIP Tour: French surge after qualifying day
On the FIP Tour, French padel players face a particularly packed Friday. After an almost flawless Thursday in the qualifications in Portugal and Italy, numerous Tricolore pairs move into the main draws, while two more tickets for the main draw still have to be secured in Spain. Four tournaments in one weekend reflect the breadth of the French presence: FIP Silver in Porto, FIP Bronze in Rovato, FIP Bronze in Alicante and the event in Lelystad.
Porto: Three qualifications and a full main draw
At the FIP Silver in Porto, all three French qualification pairs took their chance. Enzo Couacaud and Spaniard Roger Aromi Siquier overturned a deficit against Gonzalo Lopez and Mauro Sardon and won 2-6, 6-1, 7-5. In parallel, Sami Iznasni and Raphaël Rubio defeated Italians Alessandro Ciaccia and Edoardo Galbusera 6-3, 7-6. The junior pair Nathan Perrot and Sacha Huard de La Marre, winners of the FIP Promises Paris U16 and holders of a wild card, also confirmed their form and beat Hugo Reina and Alberto Mancilla comfortably 6-4, 6-4.
In the main draw, the French face demanding opening opponents. Third seeds Dylan Guichard and Clément Geens meet Jorge Cordoba and Javier De Lacho. Thomas Seux and Louis Jover play Ciaccia and Edoardo Vittorio Galbusera. Thomas Basso and Julien Biron take on Diego Garcia and Octavio Alvarez. Iznasni and Rubio face fifth seeds Ramiro Pereyra and Juan Zamora, Couacaud and Aromi Siquier face Alvaro Pozo and Anselmo Guerrero. Perrot and Huard de La Marre stand opposite Portuguese seventh seeds Pedro Araujo and Pedro Graca.
Women's draw with a clear French line
In the women's event, Léa Godallier and Argentine Daiara Valenzuela start as fourth seeds against Laura Buteau and Carmen Villar, ensuring a French player is already booked for the second round. Louise Bahurel with Ivet Val Lopez faces Beatriz Ferreira and Maria Pereira. Steffi Merah and Mafalda Fernandes play Joana Soares and Laura Jackson. The order of play for Friday, 24 July 2026, underlines the tight scheduling of matches in Porto.
Rovato: Dufour and Étienne after a marathon qualifier
At the FIP Bronze in Rovato, Benjamin Dufour and Natan Étienne also qualified without defeat. After an opening win against Jaime Fermosell Delgado and Matteo Franceschetti (7-6, 6-2), a nearly three-hour battle against Marco Fogliata and Luca Mainetti followed, which the French won 4-6, 7-6, 7-5. In the main draw, Gabriele Laurino and Matteo Sperati await. Arthur Hugounenq and Bastien Blanqué face Andrea Bettineschi and Federico Morano. Manuel Vives and Olivier Guy de Chamisso play Michal Bartusek and Ignacio Corbo. Kimy Barla and Oriana Meza have a bye and go straight into the round of 16.
Alicante and Lelystad: Final hurdles and first starts
In Alicante, Jérémie Euphrasie with Lazaro Garcia and Maxime Chedorge with Maximiliano Sepulveda face the last qualification step. Euphrasie meets Juan Conesa and Asier Estebanez, Chedorge faces second seeds of the quals Ben Phillips and Pelle Emil Hansen. In the main draw, Julien Seurin and Albert Trillas Garcia start as fifth seeds. In Lelystad, Camille Sireix and Tess De Vocht begin as fifth seeds, while Jules Marie and Maxime Deloyer face Robin Sietsma and Nikander Damianos.
- Porto: three French qualification wins and six pairs in the main draw
- Rovato: Dufour and Étienne in the main draw after a three-hour battle
- Alicante: two French pairs before the last qualification hurdle
- Lelystad: Sireix and Marie start in the Dutch main draw
Overall, Friday on the FIP Tour shows how closely qualification and main draw are linked. The French teams used Thursday to collect results and confidence. Now the conversion in the first main-draw matches and the remaining qualifications in Spain will decide the further course of the tournaments. With entries in Portugal, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, the Tricolore presence on the circuit remains unusually broad and sportingly demanding.
Especially in Porto the programme intensifies: qualifiers meet seeded pairs early, junior teams measure themselves against established FIP players, and the women's draw offers with Godallier a stable route into the next round. Rovato rewards stamina and nerve after the long qualifying duel, Alicante demands concentration in the decisive last rounds, and Lelystad provides the starting signal for seeded and unseeded French pairs. The day is therefore defined by clear chances and clear responsibility on court.
For the French scene, the spread across four venues is more than a diary clash: it shows current competitiveness at Silver and Bronze level. Whether seeded pairs such as Guichard and Geens or Godallier and Valenzuela confirm their favourites' roles, whether qualifiers such as Couacaud, Iznasni or Dufour carry the momentum forward, and whether Euphrasie and Chedorge clear the last hurdles will shape Friday's picture. The results in Porto, Rovato, Alicante and Lelystad will largely determine the next stretch of the FIP Tour week for the Bleus.
