No Wildcard, No Farewell: Lamperti Falls in Madrid P1 Qualifying

Miguel Lamperti's farewell tour will not include a final match at Movistar Arena. The 47-year-old Argentine, who has said 2026 is his last season on tour, was left off the wild card list for the Comunidad de Madrid P1 and had to go through qualifying instead.

Playing alongside Octavio Alvarez, Lamperti lost to Javi Valdes and Miguel Benitez 2-6, 7-5, 4-6 in the qualifying rounds at Pro Padel Coslada on Saturday. The match was not broadcast, so Lamperti's last competitive appearance in the Spanish capital played out in front of a small crowd at a club without a single camera.

A snub that stung

Tournament organizers handed the three men's wild cards to Bentahor Espino Mustafa, Asier Martinez Lopez and Carlos Del Pico Torres. None of the three carry Lamperti's resume or box-office pull, which is what made the decision sting for fans who expected the Movistar Arena crowd to get one more look at him.

Lamperti already said goodbye to his home fans in May, playing his last tournament on Argentine soil at Parque Roca in Buenos Aires in front of 13,000 people. Madrid was set to be one of his last stops in Europe before he steps away from the tour for good at the end of the season.

What's next

With the loss, Lamperti's run at this year's Madrid P1 is over before the main draw even starts. The tournament's first round begins Tuesday at Movistar Arena, headlined by Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia, fresh off their London P1 title, alongside Alejandro Galan and Federico Chingotto.