Yanguas and Lijó: From Near-Upset to Cruise Control in Milan

A brand-new partnership nearly came unstuck in its very first match. Miguel Yanguas and Pablo Lijó, one of the most intriguing new pairings of the 2026 Premier Padel season, looked shaky enough in their Milan debut that their opponents genuinely threatened to pull off the upset. The turnaround that followed tells you a lot about both the opportunity and the danger this tournament presents.

A Slow Start That Nearly Cost Them

The problem was chemistry, or the lack of it. Yanguas and Lijó were stepping onto the court together for one of the first times competitively, and Javi Ruiz and Javi González read the situation perfectly. They exploited the pair's lack of match time together, stayed tight on the scoreboard, and forced enough uncertainty to push the first set all the way to a tiebreak.

It wasn't until the tiebreak that Yanguas and Lijó finally let their power and physicality do the talking, closing it out 7-6.

Once that first set was banked, the match transformed. The second set was barely a contest: Yanguas and Lijó broke repeatedly and wrapped things up 6-2, finishing the whole match in just over 90 minutes. Same two players, completely different performance. The tiebreak was the unlock.

Campagnolo and González: Worse Before It Got Better

If Yanguas and Lijó's opening set was nervy, 'Momo' González and Lucas Campagnolo went one step further and actually dropped theirs. Javi Barahona and Nacho Piotto weren't just competitive, they won the first set 6-4, fully capitalising on González and Campagnolo's lack of continuity and rhythm early on.

What makes the result interesting is what happened once the pair found their footing. When the engine started running cleanly, the quality gap became obvious fast. They levelled at one set each with a 6-3, then closed it out with a dominant 6-2. A final scoreline of 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 flatters neither side completely: Barahona and Piotto genuinely had their moment, and González and Campagnolo had to earn this one.

What Milan Is Already Telling Us

Beyond those two headline matches, the rest of the early-round results at the Milan tournament showed the higher-ranked pairs largely in control. A selection of the day's outcomes:

• Javi Garrido and Juani De Pascual beat Maxi Sánchez and 'Lucho' Capra 6-3, 6-1
• Íñigo Jofre and Juanlu Esbrí beat José Antonio García Diestro and Marc Sintes 6-3, 6-3
• Álvaro Cepero and Andrés Fernández Lancha beat Fran Guerrero and Javi Leal 6-3, 6-2
• Manu Castaño and Pol Hernández beat Jairo Bautista and Lucas Bergamini 6-4, 6-3
• Pablo García and 'Tolito' Aguirre beat Gonzalo G. Alfonso and 'Tino' Libaak 6-2, 6-3
• Enzo Jensen and David Gala fell to Martín Di Nenno and Paquito Navarro 3-6, 3-6

The pattern across the day points to something specific about this venue and surface: points are relatively accessible, but the margins for mental drift are very thin. Yanguas and Lijó nearly found that out the hard way. So did González and Campagnolo. The lower-ranked pairs can score, stay competitive, and turn a 4-1 deficit into something uncomfortable very quickly if the top pairs switch off even briefly.

That is not a trivial detail heading into the later rounds. The top five ranked pairs have not yet entered the draw, and when they do, they will face a tournament environment where opponents are not going to roll over. Any complacency, any dip in focus between games, and the scoreboard can flip before you have time to reset. Milan is shaping up as a tournament that rewards consistent intensity over 90 minutes rather than isolated moments of brilliance. For a new partnership like Yanguas and Lijó, the lesson from round one could not have arrived at a better time.