Padel
The final push: Galán and Chingotto’s bid to top the world rankings
Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia lead the way, but Alejandro Galán and Federico Chingotto are close behind. With plenty of points still on offer, here's how the Premier Padel rankings could change.
Federico Chingotto stood at the baseline on Court Philippe-Chatrier on the Sunday afternoon, serving for the Alpine Paris Major title. He and Alejandro Galán led 5-3 in the deciding set and were just four points away from victory.
However, the world number one pair of Agustín Tapia and Arturo Coello managed to break their serve, level the match at 5-5, and then take the tiebreak 7-1. With this victory, they collected a fourth consecutive Roland Garros title and concluded another thrilling chapter in one of padel’s greatest ever rivalries.
Yet, despite Tapia and Coello winning the Paris Major and earning 2,000 crucial points, with seven tournaments still remaining, the battle to end the season at the top of the FIP rankings remains in the balance.
Here's an in-depth breakdown of how Galán and Chingotto can dethrone the current world number one pair.
01
How the world number one ranking is determined
Alejandro Galán was previously ranked number one alongside Juan Lebrón
© Samo Vidic/Red Bull Content Pool
The FIP ranking table is published every Monday and covers a rolling 52-week cycle. It counts each player's best 22 results across the Qatar Airways Premier Padel Tour and the CUPRA FIP Tour.
There is also the FIP Race, which only counts 2026 results, so nothing expires and nothing has to be defended. This decides who plays the season finale. The top 16 men and top 16 women in the Race, meaning the top eight pairs in each draw, qualify for the Premier Padel Finals in Barcelona in December. The Race reflects who has had the better year, while the overall ranking shows who is the world number one.
After Paris, Coello and Tapia are top with 20,526 points each, while Galán and Chingotto are next with 18,331 points each. Both pairs carry identical totals because neither has played a single match in the last twelve months with anybody other than their regular partner.
That 2,195-point difference looks like a season's worth of work and wins, but a large part of it is about to disappear without either pair playing a single point.
02
How do Premier Padel ranking points work?
The FIP rule is simple: points last 52 weeks. In the same week a year later, pairs either match their previous result or they lose the difference. The federation's own wording is that the loss is automatic: the old points are deleted at the end of the cycle, and whatever points pairs earn in the corresponding week of the current year replace them.
Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia took the win at the Paris Major
© Premier Padel/Red Bull Content Pool
Paris is the clearest example: Coello and Tapia won the 2025 Paris Major and defended it in 2026. They banked 2,000 points and handed back the 2,000 that expired the same day. Galán and Chingotto lost both finals, so they banked 1,200 and handed back 1,200.
FIP publishes the expiry dates for the biggest blocks. For example, the Paris Major 2025 points dropped off the rankings on September 14, 2026. The Mexico Major 2025 and the Qatar Major 2025 both come out on November 30, 2026. The points from the Barcelona Finals 2025 drop out on December 7, 2026.
Those expiration dates help define the ranking's dynamics. The heaviest weeks of the 2025 season all expire in the last five weeks of 2026, and Coello and Tapia won almost all of them, so they’re the pair with the most points to defend.
03
The points each pair will lose before the end of the 2026 season
Here is every block of 2025 points that leaves the ranking between now and the end of the season, and what it costs each pair:
- Germany P2, late September: Coello and Tapia lose 360, Galán and Chingotto lose 600.
- Rotterdam P1, early October: Coello and Tapia lose 1,000, Galán and Chingotto lose 600.
- Milan P1, mid October: Coello and Tapia lose 600, Galán and Chingotto lose 1,000.
- NewGiza P2, late October: Coello and Tapia lose nothing, Galán and Chingotto lose 600.
- FIP World Cup Pairs, 9 November: Coello and Tapia lose 1,200, Galán and Chingotto lose 2,000.
- Dubai P1, mid November: Coello and Tapia lose 1,000, Galán and Chingotto lose 600.
- Qatar Major, 30 November: Coello and Tapia lose 2,000, Galán and Chingotto lose 1,200.
- Mexico Major, 30 November: Coello and Tapia lose 2,000, Galán and Chingotto lose 1,200.
- Barcelona Finals, 7 December: Coello and Tapia lose 1,500, Galán and Chingotto lose around 935.
Coello and Tapia hand back 9,660 points. Galán and Chingotto hand back 8,735. The 925-point difference goes to 'Chingalán', and it goes to them automatically.
Galán and Chingotto know what they need to do to top the world rankings
© Premier Padel/Red Bull Content Pool
However, complicating matters is the fact that two of last year's tournaments will not be played this year. Galán and Chingotto beat Coello and Tapia at the World Cup Pairs and received 2000 points, but there is no tournament at which to win those points back.
Similarly, Coello and Tapia beat Galán and Chingotto to win the Ooredoo Qatar Major. This year's tournament was postponed, so once again the points will come out and there is no way for either team to replace them.
Ultimately, those two cancelled tournaments will have no impact on the overall rankings as both teams lose the same number of points. However, Coello and Tapia won Rotterdam, Dubai, Acapulco and Barcelona last autumn, while Galán and Chingotto were runners-up at all four tournaments.
That means that Coello and Tapia have more points to defend. It also means that Galán and Chingotto know exactly what they need to do to end the season on top, and that is to outscore their rivals by 1,270 points across seven tournaments.
04
Who has won the most titles so far this season?
Chingotto and Galán have won seven titles so far this season
© Premier Padel/Red Bull Content Pool
At this important stage of the season, Coello and Tapia lead the way with nine titles, compared to seven for Galán and Chingotto. Both teams have won four P1 titles and three P2 titles, but the difference has been at the Majors.
Coello and Tapia have won two Majors, which is significant as these tournaments are worth 2,000 rankings points, double a P1 title and triple a P2. That means that their triumphs in Rome and Paris account for a bigger share of the hap than the other 15 tournaments of the season combined.
05
What are the remaining tournaments and how many points are on offer?
Seven tournaments remain on the Qatar Airways Premier Padel Tour in 2026, with 8,700 points up for grabs.
- CUPRA Rotterdam P2, Netherlands, 28 September to 4 October - 600 points
- Germany P2, Düsseldorf, 5 to 11 October - 600 points
- Milano P1, Milan, 12 to 18 October - 1,000 points
- Kuwait Major, Kuwait, 26 to 31 October - 2,000 points
- Dubai P1, United Arab Emirates, 8 to 15 November - 1,000 points
- Mexico Major, Acapulco, 23 to 29 November - 2,000 points
- Premier Padel Finals, Barcelona, 10 to 13 December - 1,500 points
Kuwait carries more weight than its usual slot suggests. It was upgraded from P1 to Major status for 2026 after the Qatar Major was postponed. It also sends Galán and Chingotto back to the country where they beat Coello and Tapia to win a world title 10 months ago.
Runners-up take 1,200 points at a Major, 600 at a P1 and 360 at a P2. Those numbers matter just as much as the winners' figures, because these two pairs keep meeting in finals.
06
How Galán and Chingotto can top the world rankings
Will Chingotto and Galán be celebrating at the end of the season?
© Premier Padel/Red Bull Content Pool
Here's a breakdown of every scenario that would see Galán and Chingotto end the season as the number one pair in the world.
- Win both Majors. Beat Coello and Tapia in the final in Kuwait and again in Acapulco, and the swing is 1,600 points. Galán and Chingotto go 330 clear with Barcelona still to play. This is one of the shortest routes, but it requires them to do the one thing they haven't managed all year: win a Major.
- Win one Major and pick off the smaller weeks. A Major final win over Coello and Tapia is worth 800. Add a P1 final at 400, and the swing reaches 1,200, which leaves Chingalán 70 points short with the season over. Add either of the two P2 finals on top, and they end up 170 in front.
- Skip the Majors entirely. Win Rotterdam, Germany, Milan and Dubai with Coello and Tapia as runners-up in all four, and the swing is 1,280 points. That puts Galán and Chingotto top of the ranking before either Major is played.
- Win a Major while Coello and Tapia lose early. If Chingalán take the Kuwait Major and the champions go out in the semi-finals, the swing is 1,280 in a single week. If Coello and Tapia lose in the quarter-finals, as they did in Madrid, the swing is 1,640, and Galán and Chingotto go 370 points clear.
- The Mexico example. If Galán and Chingotto were to win the Mexico Major and three other tournaments, say Milan, Dubai and Rotterdam, with Coello and Tapia runners-up at all four, they would bank 4,600 points to their rivals' 2,760. That is a swing of 1,840, and a lead of 570 heading to Barcelona.
07
How to watch the remainder of the Premier Padel season
Following one of the greatest rivalries in padel history is extremely easy, as Red Bull TV broadcasts every Premier Padel match from the quarter-finals onwards at all seven remaining tournaments.
Find more information on all tournaments, including ticketing, match schedules, current scores, player updates and all the latest news on the Premier Padel website.
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