Day3 men’s: Egypt knock out the Spanish number 1 seeds and reach the quarter-finals, Italy and France set up the Padel ‘Clásico’

Hands on heads at the end of the match, a cascade of applause from the stands, and a long embrace with family and friends who rushed onto court to celebrate. Egypt’s Youssef Hossam and Georges Wakim produced the upset of Day 3 in the men’s event at the XX Mediterranean Games. On the Central Court at Parco della Salinella, the North African pair secured a historic three-set victory, winning 6-4 4-6 7-5 against the number 1 seeds, Spain’s Pol Hernandez and Guille Collado, after two hours of play.

It was a fantastic evening that began with the decisive break at 4-4 in the first set and appeared to slip away when they surrendered the second. The masterpiece came in the final set, when at 5-4 Wakim and Hossam saved a match point before coming back to close out the match 7-5. “An incredible victory for us and for our country,” Wakim said after the match. “We see these champions on TV every day, and beating them was something unique.” Hossam was equally emotional: “Winning a match like this at such an important event makes us proud. And I’m even happier because this was my first match after a hip injury that kept me out for months.”

The pair will now play in Wednesday’s quarter-finals, where they will face Marco Cassetta and Simone Iacovino, who defeated Morocco’s Alami/El Amrani 6-4 6-4. The other Italian pair, Flavio Abbate and Alvaro Montiel, also secured a clear victory, beating Albania’s Curri/Naska 6-1 6-0 to book their place in the quarter-finals against France’s Bastien Blanqué and Dylan Guichard, who defeated Monaco’s Fedoroff/Minioni 6-2 6-2.