Alejandro Galán and Fede Chingotto needed every trick in the book on Sunday to see off plucky underdogs Javier Leal and Francisco Guerrero 9-7 in the deciding tiebreak to win their sixth 2026 Premier Padel title after Gemma Triay Pons and Delfina Brea Senesi battled to back-to-back titles earlier in the day at the maiden Pretoria P1 event. Here is all you need to know:
– Fired-up underdogs Leal and Guerrero hit back from losing the first set 6-2 in Sunday’s final to take the second set 7-5, then had the crowd on their feet in a brilliant deciding set – including a tournament point – before Galán and Chingotto won the tiebreak 9-7 on their second tournament point.
– Galán, 30, said: “South Africa and this stadium have been amazing. It’s been a tough week. I think I was going to have nightmares if we lost that tiebreak with the ball I didn’t see because of the lights. I tried to hit winners, to contribute, but their level was fantastic. The MVP is Fede again.”
– With the tournament making its debut this week on the booming Premier Padel global calendar, Galán and Chingotto faced a tricky route to the final after finding their first two opponents tough.
– The quarter-finals were no different as 10th seeds Juan Tello and Maximiliano Arce Simo hit back from losing the first set 6-3 to win the second 6-1 before the second seeds reset to triumph 6-2.
– Shock 13th seeds Juanlu Esbri and legend Sanyo Gutiérrez’s fairytale run to the semi-finals promised much, but ultimately fell short as Galán and Chingotto ground them down 7-5 6-4.
– Up the top of the draw, number one seeds Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia overcame a three-set Round of 16 scare against the 11th seeds to get back on track in the quarter-finals with a 7-6 6-2 win.
– Sadly for them, their incredible run of making consecutive Premier Padel finals came to a shuddering halt on Saturday as Spanish seventh seeds Leal and Guerrero found an extra gear to race past the world number one pair 7-5 7-5 in just one hour and 15 minutes.
– After previously seeing off the third seeds Juan Lebrón and Leandro Augsburger in a Friday quarter-final classic 13-11 in the deciding tiebreak, Leal and Guerrero went into the final looking to complete a set of victories against the top three seeds in their first final this season.
– It was not to be in the final for Leal and Guerrero – despite a heroic effort – as it was the second seeds’ first 2026 Premier Padel title since May’s P1 event in Buenos Aires.
– Chingotto, 29, added: “I want to congratulate Fran, Javi, Lopa and De Benito, because they played an amazing tournament. Fran is my teammate – we trained together this week – and I’m really happy with the level he’s showing. I think I said it in Málaga: we met when he was 11 years old, and having him in front of me today in a final shows he’s doing things really well. Same for Javi.”
– In the women’s event, Triay and Brea eased into the week with a 6-3 6-3 win to set up a quarter-final clash with sixth seeds Tamara Icardo Alcorisa and Claudia Jensen, the top seeds fending them off 7-6 (7-5) 6-4.
– Saturday’s semi-finals posed a different challenge, one which they were ideally equipped to tackle as they thrashed eighth seeds Alejandra Salazar Bengoechea and Aranzazu Osoro Ulrich 6-2 6-1 to book another final place.
– Unfortunately for second seeds Bea González and Paula Josemaría Martín, their route to the final was blocked after they followed a superb 6-1 6-1 quarter-final victory over the seventh seeds with an underwhelming 6-1 6-4 semi-final loss to fourth seeds Claudia Fernández Sánchez and Martina Calvo.
– Sunday’s final looked like a routine victory for the world’s number one pair when they raced through the first set 6-2, only for Fernández and Calvo to dig deep to edge the second set 7-5 in a tiebreak as the crowd were treated to a classic duel.
– The deciding set could have gone either way, however the experience of Triay and Brea told in the final tiebreak as they held their nerve on the key points to win it 7-4 for their fifth 2026 title.
– Triay, 34, said: “I always say the same: when we’re down, it doesn’t matter. We try to fight, to keep good energy, and we focus on the present – not the future, not the past. Now we have to celebrate and enjoy a bit, because tonight we fly to London and tomorrow we’ll rest.”
– After triumphing at the atmospheric SunBet Arena, Brea, 26, said: “It’s truly amazing to play in this stadium. Congratulations to the organisation and to Premier Padel. This tournament has been one of the best of the year for us. Today we fought with everything – with our legs, with our hearts.”
– The players now head straight to London for the P1 event debut there across August 2-9 in one of the world’s biggest padel cities.
– The 2026 season is another exciting chapter for Premier Padel as the unified global tour expands under the governance of the FIP. With 25 tournaments in 17 countries across five continents, watch the world’s best players compete hard with all the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals streamed live on Red Bull TV.
– The free-to-play mobile game “Red Bull Padel: Court Legends” is available for download now on iOS and Android through the AppStore and Google Play Store respectively, so padel fans can experience the action for themselves.
Watch the 2026 Pretoria P1 event replay on Red Bull TV HERE.
Explore more Premier Padel content HERE.
Words courtesy of Premier Padel
