Pádel: Tamara Icardo and Virginia Riera link arms for 2023 campaign

Tournament winners Tamara Icardo and Virginia Riera will join forces for the upcoming 2023 World Padel Tour season.

Riera and Icardo will form the eighth seed to start the year, looking to return to their best after an up-and-down year for both.

The Argentinian as well as the Spaniard won their first title in 2021, but neither could add to it in 2022. Both did reach a single final, but were beaten by Alejandra Salazar and Gemma Triay – Icardo in her native Valencia, Riera in Brussels.

Two players who ooze class and work rate, Riera and Icardo could certainly turn heads in the campaign ahead.

Tamara Icardo in 2022

Finishing 2021 as the three-seed, Icardo’s season started in the worst possible way next to Delfi Brea.

Icardo had been injured for months with an injury in her wrist, preventing her from competing in the 2021 Master Final and from having a proper pre-season. She missed the Miami as well as Reus, and needed time to re-find her form after returning.

Her and Brea’s first semi-final did not come until Vienna, and they reached the final in Valencia, where they won in 2021.

After abandoning the Swedish Padel Open and missing the Amsterdam Padel Open and Madrid Master through illness, Icardo and Brea announced their separation following the Santander Open, the location where they won their first-ever title.

Icardo will be dead-set on coming back with a bang in 2023 after a frustrating stop-and-go season, where she finished 18th in the rankings.

Virginia Riera in 2022

Riera spent the last two seasons next to former number one Patricia Llaguno.

Their only tournament win came at the 2021 Vigo Open, and they made a total of five finals throughout the two seasons.

The Chaco-born player reached seven semifinals across the campaign, but could not add to her trophy cabinet, stranding in the penultimate round at the Estrella Damm Barcelona Master Final.