Deus Brothers Reach Padel Semifinal at Mediterranean Games, Draw Spain Next

Nuno and Miguel Deus are through to the semifinals of the first-ever Mediterranean Games padel event, and they will get a shot at Spain for a place in Friday's gold medal match.

The No. 4 seeds from Portugal beat France's Timeo Fonteny and Yoan Boronad 6-3, 6-4 in the men's quarterfinals at Parco Mediterraneo Salinella in Taranto, Italy. The win sends the brothers into their first Mediterranean Games semifinal, where they face No. 2 seeds Jose Antonio Diestro and David Gala of Spain on Thursday.

How they got there

The Deus brothers controlled both sets against the French pair, closing out the first 6-3 before finishing the job 6-4 in the second. On the other side of that quarterfinal, Diestro and Gala needed a tiebreak to see off Portugal's own Pedro Araujo and Pedro Graca, winning 7-6, 6-4 in a match that went the distance in the first set.

What's at stake

Padel is competing for medals at a multi-sport Games for the first time, with men's, women's and mixed events all wrapping up this week in Taranto. A semifinal win for the Deus brothers would put Portugal in the gold medal match and guarantee the country's first padel medal at this level, with the final set for Friday.

Next up

Thursday's men's semifinal slate also pits the winners of the tournament's other quarterfinals against each other, with the two semifinal winners meeting Friday for gold.