Coquito Zamora, 18 and on a wild card, stuns his way into the Malaga draw

Coquito Zamora is 18, holds a wild card, and has already made the biggest noise of day one at his home Premier Padel event. He and Pablo Sanchez beat Pol Hernandez and Guille Collado 7-6(4), 6-4 in the opening round of the Andalucia Malaga P1, a result that lit up the Palacio de Deportes Martin Carpena.

A junior champion who came ready

Zamora arrived in Malaga fresh off winning the FIP Junior Euro Padel Cup with Spain. He has already reached four CUPRA FIP Tour finals, so the wild card was earned, not a courtesy. He and Sanchez edged the first set on a tie-break, then broke clear in the second to close the match out in roughly an hour and a half.

Navarro and Di Nenno wait next

The reward is both brutal and brilliant. Zamora and Sanchez now face Paquito Navarro and Martin Di Nenno, one of the most experienced and dangerous pairs on tour, for a place deeper in the draw. Beat them, and an 18-year-old wild card becomes the story of the week in Malaga.

The main draw runs through Sunday, July 19, with the finals set for the weekend.