Carlos Daniel Gutiérrez Amaya (born 15 June 1984 in Pehuajó, San Luis, Argentina), better known as Sanyo Gutiérrez, is an Argentine professional padel player. He currently holds the 23rd position in the FIP rankings and plays on the right-side (drive) alongside Juanlu Esbri.
Throughout his career, Sanyo Gutiérrez has won over 40 titles, but the highest point of his career came in 2018 alongside Maxi Sánchez, when he reached the world number one spot in padel.
Carrer Sanyo Gutiérrez began playing padel at the age of 11 and entered the professional circuit at 15. In 2006, he decided to move to Spain to develop his career. From 2007 onwards, he regularly reached the quarterfinals of the Padel Pro Tour tournaments with various partners.
In 2009, Sanyo teamed up with Guillermo Lahoz, forming a partnership that helped him improve his game. He subsequently spent three years playing alongside former world number one Seba Nerone.
Partnership with Maxi Sanchéz 2013
In 2013, Sanyo partnered with his childhood friend Maxi Sánchez. The pair began the season with two semifinal losses, but at the season's third tournament in Cáceres, they reached the finals, where they lost to the "Kings of Padel," Fernando Belasteguín & Juan Martín Díaz.
In the next twelve tournaments, the Argentine pair would reach eight more semifinals but failed to advance to the next round in all of them. However, they bounced back by winning three of the season's final four tournaments: first, they defeated Maxi Grabiel & Miguel Lamperti in Valencia; next, they beat Cristián Gutiérrez & Matías Díaz in Buenos Aires; and finally, they finsihed the season in style by overcoming "The Kings of Padel" at the Master Final.
2014
With the good results of the previous season, Sanyo continued alongside Maxi Sánchez in 2014. In the first four tournaments, they managed only two quarter-final and two semi-final appearances, however, at the fifth tournament of the year in Málaga, the Argentine pair reached the finals, where they defeated the world's number two-ranked pair, Juani Mieres & Pablo Lima.
After three more tournaments in which they reached the semifinals only once, Maxi and Sanyo made it to two consecutive finals. in Seville and Lisbon, losing both to Belasteguín & J.M. Díaz.
After two more tournaments without reaching the final, Maxi and Sanyo made it to two more finals in San Fernando and Córdoba, losing both once again. However, the Argentine pair achieved glory in the season's final tournament, defeating Fernando Belasteguín & Juan Martín Díaz in the finals, with the latter playing their final match together.
2015
In 2015, Maxi and Sanyo began their third season together with a Round of 16 loss at the season's opening tournament, followed by two semifinal appearances. Their first final came at the Argentina Open, where they lost in three sets to the world number ones, Fernando Belasteguín & Pablo Lima.
After a first-round exit in Valladolid, Maxi and Sanyo decided to part ways; the former teamed up with Juan Martín Díaz, while the latter joined forces with Juani Mieres. In their first four tournaments together, Gutiérrez and Mieres reached the semifinals each time but failed to advance further, until Madrid, where they defeated Matías Díaz and Paquito Navarro to claim their first title as a pair.
They would reach three more finals in the following four tournaments, in Seville, Dubai, and Bilbao, facing and losing to Belasteguín & Lima in all of them.
The two would conclude the season with two quarter-final eliminations in the two final tournaments.
Partnership with Paquito Navarro 2016
In the 2016 season, Sanyo decided to change partners and team up with Paquito Navarro, with the goal of challenging for the top ranking spot. They started their new adventure reaching the semifinals of the first tournament of the season.
In their second tournament, the Valencia Master, they bested the number 1 ranked pair, Fernando Belasteguín & Pablo Lima, in the semifinals, and in the final they defeated the Maxi Sánchez & Matías Díaz, thus winning their first tournament of the season. After a semi-final exit in the Barcelona Master, Paquito and Sanyo reached their second final of the season in the Las Rozas Open, but could not defeat the number one ranked pair.
In their next four tournaments the Spanish-Argentinian pair would reach three more finals, all of them against Belasteguín and Lima, losing the first two and achieving their second title of the season in the La Nucía Open, after the number 1 pair could not compete in the final, due to an injury of Fernando Belasteguín. In the seven last tournaments of the regular seasons they would reach five more finals, losing four of them to Belasteguín and Lima and ending the ranking race in second.
Paquito and Sanyo finsished the season winning the Masters Final, after defeating Juani Mieres & Miguel Lamperti in the finals, by 6–3 and 6–4.
Also in 2016, he competed in the Padel World Championship with the Argentine national team, winning the competition the after beating Spain 2–1 in the final. Sanyo Gutiérrez, playing with Fernando Belasteguín, would win his match against Paquito Navarro & Juan Martín Díaz, 6–4, 3–6, 7–5, tying the finals.
2017
In 2017, he continued his partnership with Paquito Navarro. They began the season winning the Santander Open and the Miami Master, beating the number one rankeds Fernando Belasteguín & Pablo Lima in both finals. Showing that Paquito and Sanyo Gutiérrez could pose a threath to the number 1s, in a final that would be repeated many times during the season.
Belasteguín & Lima would settle the score avenging their loss in rematches on the next two tournaments, winning the A Coruña Open and the Barcelona Master. In the fifth tournament of the season, the Valladolid Open, Sanyo and Paquito took the victory after the withdrawal before the final of the number 1 due to an injury of Fernando Belasteguín.
Neither team would reach the finals of the next two tournament, maintaining the ranking race close. They would meet again in the eighth tournament of the season, the Alicante Open, being defeated in the finals against Belasteguín & Lima in three sets. They would avenge their loss in the Seville Open, winning the title in Paquito's hometwon, and would repeat the result in Andorra, while in the meantime losing the Portugal Master to their rivals.
After a loss in the Granada Open, with three tournaments remaining, and both teams tied with ten finals contested and five titles each, the final tournaments would be crucial to the ranking race.
In the first of the remaining tournaments, held in Zaragoza, they did not reach the final, after losing in the semifinals. In the Buenos Aires Master, they reached another final, where they lost to Fernando Belasteguín & Pablo Lima, losing ground in the No. 1 Ranking race. At the Bilbao Open they lost in the semifinals against Maxi Sánchez and Matías Díaz ending their hopes of finishing the year as the number one pair. They finished the season with a quarter-finals exit in the Masters Final.
Return with Maxi Sanchéz 2018
In 2018, Sanyo parted ways with Paquito Navarro and returned to playing alongside Maxi Sánchez after a three-year hiatus, forming the "2.0" version of the pair with the goal of challenging Belasteguín & Lima. In their first tournament together, Catalunya Master, they claimed victory by defeating Juan Cruz Belluati & Juan Lebrón (who had eliminated the world number ones in the semifinals) with a score of 6–4, 6–2 in the final.
After a quarterfinal exit in the following tournament, Maxi and Sanyo went on to win their second and third titles at the Zaragoza and Jaén Opens, defeating Juan Martín Díaz & Paquito Navarro in both finals.
Two final losses followed in the next two tournaments, the first against Alejandro Galán & Matías Díaz in Valladolid, and the second at the Valencia Master against Fernando Belasteguín & Lima. Despite these two defeats, the three tournament wins and two final appearances allowed the Argentine pair to close the gap on the top spot in the rankings.
After a quarter-final exit in Sweden, Maxi and Sanyo completed the first half of the season by winning the Mijas and Andorra Opens, moving even closer to the top of the rankings, and already aware that, due to Belasteguín's injury, there would be a new world number one for the first time in 16 years.
A quarter-final defeat at the season's tenth tournament was quickly forgotten with the capture of their sixth trophy of the year at the Portugal Master. This victory allowed Maxi Sánchez to take the lead in the rankings, dethroning Pablo Lima from the top spot on the World Padel Tour, with Sanyo trailing Maxi by just a few points.
In the season's final four tournaments, they only missed the finals once, losing in the final of the Granada Open, and triumphing in Argentina and Murcia Open.
At the Master Final, the season's last tournament, Maxi and Sanyo reached the finals, where they faced Belasteguín (who was returning from injury) & Lima. The Argentine-Brazilian duo prevailed, winning 7–6, 6–3. Nevertheless, Maxi and Sanyo finished the season as the World Padel Tour's number one pair, becoming the first partnership in 16 years to end Fernando Belasteguín's reign.
2019
Maxi and Sanyo began the top spot defense with two victories over the new Spanish pair of Juan Lebrón & Paquito Navarro (who would become their main rivals in 2019), defeating them in the Marbella and Logroño finals.
A Round of 16 exit in Alicante did not halt their momentum, as they faced Lebrón & Paquito again in the finals of the Vigo and Jaén Opens, winning the first and losing the second.
The weakest period of the year came during the second third of the season, where during the next five tournaments, not only did they fail to reach a single final, but they also suffered consecutive Round of 16 exits and managed to reach only one semifinal, in Buenos Aires.
Thanks to their results in previous tournaments, Lebrón & Paquito were closing the gap on Maxi and Sanyo in the race for the world number one ranking. Their first attempt to strike back came at the Madrid Master, where they reached the final but lost to Agustín Tapia and Belasteguín. A semifinal exit at the Portugal Master was followed by a victory at the Menorca Open. However, a quarterfinal elimination at the Córdoba Open, combined with Lebrón & Paquito reaching the final, left the Argentine pair on the verge of being surpassed in the next tournament.
Following that Round of 16 exit by Maxi and Sanyo, Lebrón & Paquito needed only to reach the semifinals of the São Paulo Open to surpass their rivals, which they did by winning the tournament. Despite defeating the two Spaniards in the subsequent tournament, it was not enough to reclaim the number one spot, and they ultimately finished the year as the world number two pair.
Their final tournament together was the Master Final, where they were eliminated in the semifinals by Alejandro Galán and Pablo Lima.
Partnership with Franco Stupaczuk 2020
After parting ways with Maxi Sánchez, Sanyo chose Franco Stupaczuk, one of the most promising young players on the circuit, as his next partner. They began their journey by reaching the semifinals of the Marbella Master, where they lost to Alejandro Galán & Juan Lebrón in a third-set tie-break.
In the first tournament following the COVID-19 hiatus, they once again reached the semifinals, only to be eliminated by Galán & Lebrón. This same outcome against the same opponents recurred in two of the next three tournaments, alongside a Round of 16 exit.
After a quarterfinal exit in Sardinia, Sanyo and Stupaczuk reached their first final in Menorca, where they defeated Agustín Tapia and Fernando Belasteguín to claim their first title together. In the subsequent tournaments in Barcelona and Alicante, they again reached the final but were defeated by Galán and Lebrón.