The vibrant city of Dubai staged the grand finale of the first APPT season – the APPT Dubai Masters Finals 2024. iSD padel hosted the incredible event, showcasing the amazing padel that the Asia Pacific region has to offer. From the word go, there were electrifying matches, filled with drama, suspense and new levels of skill and quality, above and beyond what we have seen before on the APPT.
For the first time, the APPT left East-Asia, making its way to the Middle East and one of the new Meccas of Padel, Dubai. The prestige of playing in one of the padel capitals of the world certainly inspired returning players of the APPT to huge levels, and saw a feast of new players make their debuts, determined to show the tour just what Dubai Padel has to offer.
The players began to arrive at iSD Padel
The proceedings began on Thursday 12th of December at the wonderful iSD Padel with the Press Conference and Live Draw, before last-minute practice began, giving many players who traveled to Dubai, the chance to get used to the indoor, air-conditioned conditions.
There was a real buzz at the venue, with players speculating who had received the toughest and easiest draws, and who would come out on top and be crowned Masters Finals Champions.
All of a sudden, it was 5pm on Friday, and tournament referee Kilian Manzano was calling the first matches to the courts and the tournament was underway. Players from over 35 nations began to put their skills to the test, and even from the first round of main draw qualifying, the heat of the battle was intense.
The Results – The 2024 Kings and Queens of the APPT were crowned
The Mens Pro category really heated up at the QF stage with 4 very tasty ties for fans to enjoy. APPT ever-present Tim Brown and his partner Shungo Kusakabe crashed out in a hugely surprising result to a new pairing of Gabo and Ernesto Moreno, 6-0 6-0. It was not the finale to the season that Ho Chi Minh City champions Tim & Shungo were hoping for, but they fought hard to clinch 7th place in the consolation draw.
Gabo & Ernesto would go on to face Pol Alsina and Edu Altimires in the semi-final after they completed a truly remarkable comeback in their quarter final, losing the first set 6-0 to Joaquim Florensa and Julian Lacamoire. Joaquim and Julian were playing simply sensational padel, and fans favourites Pol and Edu looked certain for an early exit. However, they showed incredible resilience and determination, to take the 2nd set 7-5 with their first break points of the match, and then steam-rollered the 3rd set, 6-2.
In the top half of the draw, there was a comfortable win for Marc Bernils and Sergi Nogueras, the 2-time APPT champions & 3 seeds, meaning they faced Martin Noschese and APPT newcomer Jordi Casanova in the semis, after they upset the no.1 seeds and 4-time APPT champs, Dani Bressel and Miguel Briega.
Dani and Miguel can look back at the first APPT season with huge pride, really setting the tour alight with incredible skill and consistency, winning in Bali, Manila, Shenzhen and Phuket.
In the semis, Pol & Edu took to the court brimming with confidence after the comeback the previous day and played outstanding padel. Gabo and Ernesto had no answer, and that resulted in a 6-3 6-3 win for the Catalonian 4th seeds.
The watched on, eagerly awaiting to find out who their opponents would be in the 2nd semi-final.
Marc & Sergi v Martin & Jordi turned out to be an epic battle. This was a real showing of raw power mixed with exquisite finesse. All 4 players were on fire, and mid-way through the 3rd and deciding set, spectators really couldn’t tell who would win, with momentum shifting one way, then the other regularly.
In the end, it was the Catalonians who prevailed, sealing it 7-5, with Marc and Sergi looking to win their 3rd APPT title, and leaving Martin & Jordi searching for their first.
In the grand finale of the tournament, it was Pol & Edu who came out on top, giving Edu his 2nd APPT title, and Pol his 5th, crowning him as the individual Mens Pro winner of the 2024 APPT season.
It was a dominant display – Marc & Sergi played superbly well in defeat, which shows just how good Pol and Edu were. They made almost zero mistakes in the entire match, and seemed capable of defending every single ball that came their way, rescuing the ball from out the court more than 10 times combined.
Pol & Edu will return in the 2025 season, undoubtedly as the team to beat, but huge congratulations to them for an outstanding display in this tournament and this year.
In the Womens Pro, the quality was equally high. With no APPT experience, eventual winners Sol Perez and Angela Caro had to fight through every round, from the qualifying stages, right to the final.
And it never looked in doubt as they swept team after team aside, showing phenomenal skill and talent throughout. They made a formidable team with a lethal combination of patience, power and precision. The consistency in defence of Angela and the aggressiveness of the smash from Sol proved too much for their opponents throughout, and they claimed their first APPT title in style with a dominant 6-1 6-1 victory over Elisabeth Nogueras and the newly crowned no.1 ranked female player in the APPT tour for 2024, Kotomi Ozawa of Japan.
Kotomi was consistently excellent this year on tour, claiming her solo title in Jakarta with compatriot Sayaka Yoshimoto, but reaching the semi-finals and finals on every other occasion she entered. Huge congratulations to Kotomi.
A special mention in the ladies also for 2-time champs Marian Capadocia/Joanna Tao Yee Tan and Yoshino Kushima/Patricia Molinos. Their 3rd place match finished late on Sunday night and was perhaps the match of the tournament, with the Filipinos Marian and Joanna eventually coming out on top in the 3rd set after an epic battle.
Another contender for match of the tournament came in the Mixed Pro semi-final with Tim Brown (competing in the Mixed for the first time in the APPT) and his partner Irina Chernaya getting the better of 2-time Mixed Pro champs Gabo Loredo & Riikka Laine. It was a 3 hour colossus of a match on Court 1, ending in a 3rd set tie-break which put Tim & Irina into the final.
They’d go on to win the final 7-5 6-0 against the brilliant Japanese pairing of the previously mentioned Yoshino, and Tomoaki Murasawa who did fantastically well to get to the final. A 2nd and 3rd for Yoshino in this tournament – brilliant consistency and a lot to be proud of.
Elsewhere, in the Mens Amateur, the standard was higher than ever and the pair of Christos Erics & René Márquez ended up as deserving winners, overcoming iSD Padel club manager Diego Almeida and his partner Ian Thomas in the final.
In the Womens Amateur, Arina Azikova & Tatiana Samodelok dropped only one set on their way to the title, with a great 6-4 6-2 win in the final over Alsu Samigullina & Samira Biyabani Zonouz.
Diego Almeida did get his name on the winner board in the Mixed Amateur, and gave all the credit to his partner Elizabeth Hernández Silva. They overcame Mai Tupanan & César Ferrer 6-4 6-2 to secure a victory celebrated by all the iSD Padel team.
The closing ceremony and prize-giving was hosted by Jaki Palm, the owner of fantastic tournament sponsor, Tactical Padel and it was great to see so many smiles and celebrations as players were deservedly crowned as champions.
Those celebrations continued at a nearby bar, with players from all over Asia Pacific coming together to recognise a fantastic tournament, to toast a growing padel community and to begin planning the upcoming 2025 season.
The 2024 APPT season had its wonderful finale, and the APPT team look back on a successful year with huge smiles, and look forward with excitement and high hopes for 2025.
Being able to host over 1300 players in Bali twice, Singapore twice, Manila, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Phuket, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and finally Dubai was a joy and a privilege and we hope to see you all on court next year, beginning with a Thailand double header in Bangkok and Phuket. Full details coming soon!
Catch up with the action from Dubai via our Youtube channel here
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