Padel
Premier Padel 2026 explained: Rankings, points and title predictions
How Premier Padel rankings work, how points are earned and why that system will decide who wins the 2026 title.
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The 2026 Premier Padel season starts on February 9 in Riyadh, but the championship race actually began weeks ago. Every player arrived with a number next to their name, a ranking that determines their seeding, their path through draws, and ultimately their chances of lifting trophies. In padel, understanding how points work is critical to know why certain pairs dominate year after year, and others fade after one brilliant run.
Rankings shape everything: who you face in round one, who you avoid until the final, and whether you're defending a title or hunting for your first breakthrough. By the end of this piece, you'll know exactly what separates a champion from everyone else chasing them, and why the Premier Padel ranking and scoring system rewards consistency above anything else.
01
Who starts 2026 as the title favourites?
Tapia - Coello will be the pair to beat in the men's game
© Premier Padel/Red Bull Content Pool
Agustín Tapia and Arturo Coello enter 2026 as the undisputed number ones, holding 19,800 points and fresh off 13 tournament wins in 2025. A simple number to explain their dominance: their 47-match winning streak during the 2024 season remains the longest in padel history. Alejandro Galán and Federico Chingotto, “Chingalán”, sit at number two with 17,320 points after claiming seven titles last season.
New partnerships shake up the rest of the field with a top 10 capable of anything: Juan Lebrón now pairs with high-flyer Leo Augsburger, while Franco Stupaczuk reunites with Mike Yanguas after their late-2024 surge. Both pairs can shock the teams ranked above them at any point during the season.
On the women's side, Gemma Triay and Delfina Brea reign supreme with nine wins in 2025, but a new pairing of Bea González with Paula Josemaría could challenge them immediately. Third-seeded Ariana Sánchez – Andrea Ustero have also shown early on that they can contend for titles, lifting the Riyadh P1 trophy just a few days ago.
02
How Premier Padel rankings work
Bea González chases a shot at the OOREDOO Qatar Major
© Samo Vidic/Red Bull Content Pool
The FIP ranking system measures one thing: sustained excellence over a full season. Players earn points at every tournament based on how far they advance, with bigger events offering more points. Your ranking is calculated from your best 22 results across all Premier Padel and FIP Tour competitions. This isn't a career total; it's a rolling 52-week window, meaning points expire exactly one year after you earned them.
If a pair misses a tournament they won last year, those points drop off, and their ranking falls unless they replace them with new results. The system rewards players who show up everywhere and perform consistently, not those who win once and disappear.
To maintain points, the bottom line is clear: you have to match or improve last year’s result at every specific tournament (this is what is commonly known as “defending points”). Otherwise, points will be deducted from the total.
Seeding comes directly from individual rankings, which determine bracket placement and who you face early versus late in tournaments. The number one ranking goes to whoever accumulates the most points by season's end.
03
Premier Padel tournament tiers explained: Majors, P1s and P2s
The crowds pack into the Majors, such as Paris
© Jure Makovec/Red Bull Content Pool
Not all tournaments bear the same weight. Premier Padel divides its calendar into three tiers, and the points structure makes the hierarchy crystal clear. The four Majors sit at the top: Qatar Major in Doha, Italy Major in Rome, Paris Major at Roland-Garros, and Mexico Major in Acapulco. Winners collect 2,000 points, while finalists earn 1,200. One Major title equals two P1 wins in pure points.
P1 tournaments, the second tier, award 1,000 points to champions and 600 to runners-up. These events, like Miami, Valencia, and the season-opening Riyadh P1, carry serious prestige and ranking implications. P2 tournaments, the most accessible tier, give 500-600 points to winners and 300-360 to finalists.
Tournament tier
Winner points
Finalist points
Finals (one event)
1,500
N/A
Major (four events)
2,000
1,200
P1 (10 events)
1,000
600
P2 (11 events)
600
360
The 2026 season features 26 total events across 18 countries, including landmark debuts in London and Pretoria, with the following split: four Majors, 10 P1 tournaments, and 11 P2 tournaments. The weighting is deliberate: winning one Major matters more than winning multiple P2s, forcing top players to peak when it counts most.
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Why the points system decides championships
Beatriz González battles at Premier Padel 2025 Finals in Barcelona
© Alberto Nevado/Red Bull Content Pool
Here's what separates champions from pretenders: the points system punishes absence and rewards presence. Skip even one Major, and you're handing rivals up to 2,000 points they can use to climb past you. Tapia and Coello won 13 tournaments in 2025, but what's more remarkable is that they showed up everywhere and rarely lost before the final stages. They are the best example of the fact that consistency beats sporadic brilliance. One massive P1 win gives you 1,000 points, but three early exits at other P1s cost you potential points that compound over the season.
Travel schedules wreck rankings, too. Players who can't maintain form across countries and surfaces accumulate early losses that prevent them from banking the 22 strong results needed for top rankings. Historical data shows that finishing world number one typically requires winning at least two Majors plus deep runs at most P1s.
The math is unforgiving: Coello and Tapia started 2026 with 19,800 points, while second-ranked Galán-Chingotto have 17,320. That's nearly 2,500 points of breathing room built entirely on sustained excellence.
05
What it actually takes to fnish world number one
Agustin Tapia and Arturo Coello are currently unbeatable
© Premier Padel/Red Bull Content Pool
To realistically finish world number one, a pair typically needs at least two Major titles (4,000 points). Add three P1 victories (3,000 points), and you're sitting at 7,000 points before counting any other results. But the season doesn't stop at five tournaments.
With 26 events on the 2026 calendar, you need consistent deep runs to fill out your best 22-counting results. Missing one Major can cost roughly 2,000 points that you'll never fully recover unless you win extra P1s to compensate. A P2 win (500-600 points) equals roughly 25-30 percent of a Major, so it takes four P2 titles to match one Major.
Here's a practical scenario: if a pair wins two Majors, three P1s, and reaches the semi-finals at three more P1s (earning 400-500 points each), they're virtually guaranteed a top-two finish.
Conversely, if you win just one Major but claim six P1 titles, you'd accumulate around 8,000 points. Competitive, but risky if the dominant pair sweeps multiple Majors. The Premier Padel Finals in Barcelona adds another wrinkle, offering 1,500 points to winners, but only the top 16 pairs qualify (eight in the men’s competition, eight in the women’s one).
Bottom line: Championship math demands you win the big ones and never fall early in a P1.
06
2026 season predictions
Galán and Chingotto are the only serious challengers in the men's contest
© Alberto Nevado/Red Bull Content Pool
Tapia and Coello remain overwhelming favourites to finish number one again. Their 2,500-point cushion gives them a margin for error no other pair enjoys, and they've proven they can beat anyone, on any surface. Expect them to claim at least two Majors and five P1s. Galán-Chingotto present the only proven challenge for now, if they can sweep one or two Majors and steal multiple P1s. Their seven total title wins in 2025 show they're close.
The breakout team
Juan Lebrón and Leandro Augsburger make an entrance
© Premier Padel/Red Bull Content Pool
Watch fourth-seeded Juan Lebrón- Leo Augsburger. Lebrón's transition game combined with Augsburger's smash power creates a fast-court nightmare that could produce shock Major wins on aggressive surfaces.
In the women’s draw, second-seeded Bea González – Paula Josemaría have paired up with no other goal in mind than to bring their explosiveness to the top of the ranking.
Most improved pair
Tamara Icardo and Claudia Jensen are famously tough to play against
© Premier Padel/Red Bull Content Pool
Third-seeded Franco Stupaczuk – Mike Yanguas reuniting feels dangerous after their late-2024 surge that included a P2 trophy and a Major final, beating Chingotto and Galán with impressive performances.
In the women’s field, fifth-seeded Tamara Icardo – Claudia Jensen feature a unique mix of quickness and firepower that makes them very dangerous. They already upset second-seeded Josemaría – González in the quarter-finals of the Riyadh P1.
Dark horse alert
Coki Nieto and Jon Sanz already beat Tapia-Coello once at the 2024 Finals in Barcelona, ending that historic winning streak. Sanz is extremely unpredictable and uncomfortable to play against as a lefty, while Nieto can defend any ball coming his way.
In the women’s competition, watch out for sixth-seeded Marta Ortega – Martina Calvo. Ortega, a former number 1, brings experience and mentorship skills, while Calvo has a tireless motor at just 17.
Biggest risk
Any top-five pair that travels poorly will be in trouble, as the 18-country calendar will quickly expose fitness and mental fatigue.
Rivalry to watch
Bea González in action at the 2026 season-opener in Riyadh
© Premier Padel/Red Bull Content Pool
The rivalry between the world’s top two seeds, Tapia-Coello versus Chingotto-Galán, is already being described as some as “El Clásico” (“The Classic”). They have now faced each other 25 times, and mostly in finals, with Tapia-Coello leading 18-7.
Their most recent encounter was at the 2026 Riyadh P1 final, where the top seeds dominated and showed they remain favourites (6-4, 6-2). Every final between these two teams can easily turn into a three-hour epic that comes down to two or three points.
In the women’s competition, top seeds Gemma Triay – Delfina Brea will likely have their biggest enemies in second-seeded Bea González – Paula Josemaría. Both pairs play an aggressive, all-out brand of padel that will probably shape a long-term rivalry.
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FAQ
Your Premier Padel questions answered:
08
Where can I watch Premier Padel?
Premier Padel tournaments are becoming bigger and more relevant every year
© Alberto Nevado/Red Bull Content Pool
Red Bull TV will broadcast all Premier Padel matches from the quarter-finals onward, ensuring widespread access to the highest-stakes matches. This game-changing partnership continues to make padel available to a wider audience and ensures that fans around the world can follow their favourite players and witness the excitement of the best padel in the world.
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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