Melilla’s 150-point Gold title puts the Finals cutoff in focus
Tello–Arce and Virseda–Fassio lead the seeds as the main draws begin October 21, with Barcelona places still in contention.
By X3Insights News, News desk
2 min read
Melilla's FIP Gold tournament opens its main draws October 21 with more at stake than a weekly title: 150 points for the champions can influence the fight for the last places at December's Premier Padel Finals in Barcelona.
Juan Tello and Maxi Arce lead the men's seeds, while Veronica Virseda and Martina Fassio head the women's field. The event follows the Gold tournament in Seville, keeping the CUPRA FIP Tour directly involved in the season-ending qualification contest while Premier Padel prepares for Kuwait.
Arce and Tello arrive outside the cutoff
In its October 20 assessment, FIP placed Arce immediately outside the men's top 16 and Tello third among the players below that line. Javi Leal occupied the last qualifying position in that snapshot.
Edu Alonso, listed 18th in the Race, partners Aimar Goñi. Jairo Bautista, 20th, plays with Lucas Bergamini. The official men's draw confirms Alonso–Goñi as the second seeds and Bautista–Bergamini as the third, behind Tello–Arce.
The same draw lists round-by-round points: eight for the round of 32, 14 for the round of 16, 25 for a quarterfinal, 50 for a semifinal, 90 for the runners-up and 150 for the champions. Those steps make progress through the bracket consequential even for a pair that does not take the title.
Virseda has a place to defend
The women's field contains 22 pairs. FIP's October 20 report put Virseda 16th in the Race and Bea Caldera 20th, 240 points behind her. Virseda and Fassio have already won the Gold tournament in Perugia; Caldera teams with Raquel Eugenio in Melilla.
Nuria Rodriguez and Giulia Dal Pozzo, the fourth seeds, were 18th and 19th respectively in that same Race snapshot. The seeded women's pairs begin in the round of 16. These positions describe the standings before the main draw, rather than a projection of the table after Saturday's finals.
A short main-draw week
The tournament's published schedule puts the opening main-draw round on Wednesday, October 21, followed by the second round Thursday. Quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for Friday, with the finals Saturday, October 24, at Centro de Pádel Ciudad Autónoma de Melilla.
FIP lists outdoor courts and a €56,000 total purse. Its prize table specifies amounts per player, including €3,500 for a winner and €1,820 for a finalist. Those sums are different measures from the ranking points displayed in the draw.
