Franco Stupaczuk and Mike Yanguas, seeded fourth at the Premier Padel P1 in Pretoria, withdrew from the tournament at the last minute, Sport5 reports, citing a physical problem for Stupaczuk.
"Unfortunately, at the last minute we won't be able to come to Pretoria because of Franco's physical issues," the pair said in a statement carried by the outlet, announced on social media shortly before their opening match.
The withdrawal caps an uneven few weeks for the Argentine-Spanish duo, who were eliminated in the quarter-finals in Malaga and have looked short of their best form since pairing up.
The main beneficiaries are Paquito Navarro and Martín Di Nenno, who now avoid what looked like a difficult early meeting with Stupaczuk and Yanguas and progress in the draw without playing.
Pretoria is hosting South Africa's first Premier Padel P1 event, running from 27 July to 2 August at the SunBet Arena, a milestone tournament for the sport's expansion into Sub-Saharan Africa.
There is no Israeli involvement in this story; it is included here only as a brief international padel-tour item and carries no wider significance beyond the tournament draw.
