The Streak is Over: Coello & Tapia Fall at Pretoria
Twenty-seven consecutive finals. Fifteen months without missing one. Then Javi Leal and Fran Guerrero walked onto the court in Pretoria and tore up the script.
The world #1 pair Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia fell 7-5, 7-5 in the semifinals. It was their first failure to reach a final since May 2025. Leal and Guerrero didn't just beat them. They outplayed them in straight sets in front of a stunned SunBet Arena.
One night earlier, Leal and Guerrero saved seven match points against Juan Lebrón and Leo Augsburger in the quarterfinals. The deciding tiebreak went 13-11. Fullview SA called it "the match of the year."
By the time they faced Coello and Tapia, fear was no longer a factor.
Ale Galán and Fede Chingotto took full advantage. In the final, they beat Leal and Guerrero 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(7) in a two-hour battle that La Nación called "the best final of the season." It was their sixth title of 2026 and first since Buenos Aires, a result that tightens the rankings race at the top.
The women's final matched the drama beat for beat. Gemma Triay and Delfi Brea defeated Claudia Fernández and Martina Calvo 6-2, 6-7, 7-6 in 2 hours and 53 minutes. Fifth title of the year for the world #1s.
But the real story was Fernández and Calvo. They were a brand-new pair playing their first tournament together. They reached the final and had championship point before Triay and Brea's experience pulled them through.
Pretoria delivered everything it promised: Africa's first Premier Padel event, two three-set finals, a broken dynasty, and a new pair to fear. The tour moves to London this week. Good luck topping that.
Source: Padel FIP — Titles for Brea-Triay and the 'Chingalan', Mundo Deportivo — Bombazo histórico en Pretoria
Quick Hits
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BBC: "Padel is exploding across the UK. So why can courts cost £100 an hour?" The BBC published a major feature revealing around one million people in Britain now play padel regularly. It spotlighted celebrity backing (Beckham, Tom Holland, Andy Murray's £27m Game4Padel) and asked whether £100 courts make padel a sport for the wealthy. Drops perfectly ahead of London's first Premier Padel event this week. (BBC News)
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Compagnie des Alpes invests €20M in PadelCity for 33.9% stake. French leisure giant CDA (Parc Astérix, Walibi, major ski resorts) is betting big on padel. The deal gives them options to take majority control by 2028 and full acquisition by 2030. PadelCity targets 40 locations and 350 courts across Europe by end of 2026. Smart money is moving in. (Compagnie des Alpes)
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Yahoo Finance: "Padel is the new golf for young professionals." The US media wave continues. Yahoo Finance aired a segment with Pro Padel League CEO Michael Dorfman and Citizen Watch's Jeffrey Cohen (whose Frederique Constant brand sponsors PPL). US courts have grown from ~227 to ~1,000 in three years. The positioning shift from "next pickleball" to "new golf" is deliberate, and telling. (Yahoo Finance)
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Epic Padel buys Midlothian Tennis Club in Virginia. The tennis-to-padel conversion model keeps expanding. Northern Virginia-based Epic Padel acquired the Richmond-area club, adding to existing locations in Charlotte and a Milwaukee flagship opening this month. "Trying to avoid the mistake of over-building." A sign US operators are learning from pickleball's oversupply. (Richmond BizSense)
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BGT-winning farmer opens padel club in rural Dorset. Third-generation farmer Ben Chick (Hawkstone Farmers Choir, Britain's Got Talent winners) is launching "Chalk & Padel" in Sixpenny Handley to tackle rural isolation. Padel's story has been urban and premium. This is the counterpoint, and a damn good one. (BBC News)
Weekend Results
Pretoria Premier Padel P1 — SunBet Arena, South Africa
Men's Draw:
- 🥇 Galán / Chingotto def. Leal / Guerrero: 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(7)
- SF: Leal / Guerrero def. Coello / Tapia: 7-5, 7-5
- QF highlight: Leal / Guerrero def. Lebrón / Augsburger: 6-7, 7-5, 7-6(13-11) (7 match points saved)
Women's Draw:
- 🥇 Triay / Brea def. Fernández / Calvo: 6-2, 6-7, 7-6 (2h 53min)
- SF: Fernández / Calvo def. González / Josemaría: 6-1, 6-4
- SF: Triay / Brea def. Salazar / Osoro: 6-2, 6-1
Coming Up Next
London Premier Padel P1 — August 4-9, Olympia, London
The UK's first-ever Premier Padel event. Qualifying starts today. Main draw from Wednesday.
Galán and Chingotto arrive with a title and full confidence. Coello and Tapia need a response. Can Fernández and Calvo prove Pretoria wasn't a one-off?
TNT Sports secured live UK broadcast rights. Decathlon is the Official Retail Partner. Twelve British wildcards, seven in the main draw, give home fans something to shout about.
How to watch: TNT Sports 4 (from R16), HBO Max (all matches), Premier Padel YouTube (early rounds).
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Did You Know?
The tiebreak that Leal and Guerrero saved in the Pretoria quarterfinals went to 13-11. Under Premier Padel rules, the deciding-set tiebreak has no cap. It's played until one pair leads by two points.
The longest recorded Premier Padel tiebreak went to 15-13. Pretoria came close to breaking that record.
Player Spotlight
Javi Leal
Javi Leal (Spain, FIP Ranking: ~25th)
Before Pretoria, most casual fans couldn't pick Javi Leal out of a lineup. After it, he's impossible to forget.
The 25-year-old from Málaga plays the left side with a deceptive mix of touch and power. His bandeja is textbook, and his volleys in transition are among the cleanest on tour.
Paired with Fran Guerrero, he reached his first P1 final after saving seven match points and ending the biggest winning streak in the sport.
Off court, Leal is known for his quiet intensity. He barely celebrates between points, then erupts when they win a set. Before Pretoria, he was a name only serious fans knew. London will show if that changes.
Hot Take
Padel courts costing £100 an hour in the UK won't kill the sport. But it will split it in two. The BBC raised the right question. The answer is already playing out.
Premium venues serving sparkling water and organic smoothies will thrive in wealthy suburbs. Community clubs charging £25 will grow the base. The problem starts when city councils approve only the former.
If padel's UK infrastructure skews luxury, it'll peak exactly where tennis peaked: affluent and stagnant. Growth needs volume, and volume needs accessible courts. Agree? Hit reply.
Number of the Week
27
Consecutive Premier Padel finals for Coello and Tapia, a streak that lasted 15 months before ending in Pretoria
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