The first Master of the season, in Marbella, came in the seventh WPT event of the year, which confirms that Alejandro Galán and Juan Lebron have secured the men’s number one spot for a while: With this there are now three tournaments that they have won this season, and they shoot up and move away from their pursuers in the ranking. Paula Josemaría and Ari Sánchez took the women’s final, their second tournament of the year, and are slightly closer to the number ones, Gemma Triay and Alejandra Salazar, with four.
Sunday began with a surprising women’s final, because Bárbara Las Heras and Verónica Vírseda had never reached so high. In front, Ari Sánchez and Paula Josemaría, in their fifth final of the year, with an Open already won. They are the number two couple, always favorites, but they found themselves 4-6 at the start. That is to say, the debutants had no complexes and they played with their weapons of patience against more aggressive rivals. They only made one mistake, trying to win and forgetting their humility against more expert rivals. And there they got lost because Ari arrives at full speed and 6–3 and 6-3 for his second victory of the year in almost two and a half hours of play, which being a Master is almost as if they won two in one.
In the men’s final the couple from Malaga had no options. Galán and Lebron came out unleashed, with that rhythm in which they enjoy and now their rivals. Momo González and Ale Ruiz did not see a way to protect themselves from that downpour; 6-2. They improved somewhat in the second, but not enough to stop a couple that explodes when the heat arrives, 6-4. For the people of Malaga, at least, the first step has already been taken: entering a final.