Padel
Why the Paris Major at Roland-Garros is padel's most wanted trophy
Padel's most coveted title is played inside a tennis cathedral. Ahead of the Alpine Paris Major on September 7, here's what Roland Garros does to the players who walk out there.
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Prestige, legacy, history, an unparalleled setting… These are some of the reasons why the Alpine Paris Major stands apart from everything else on the calendar. Here's what Roland Garros does to everyone who walks onto Philippe-Chatrier, how padel got the keys in the first place and what's at stake when play begins.
01
Why the Paris Major matters more than any other trophy
Professional padel players are repeatedly asked to choose a Premier Padel title they would take above all others, and in many cases, the answer is the same one: Paris. It’s not purely about the tournament’s dimension rankings-wise, or the prize money. What makes this tournament truly special is its venue.
The Alpine Paris Major returns to Roland-Garros from September 7 to 13 and it remains the most unique and powerful on the Qatar Airways Premier Padel Tour calendar. For six days, the home of French tennis becomes the home of professional padel. Glass boxes go up on the same ground where tennis legends left their mark on the Parisian clay. The players who walk out there know exactly whose footsteps they are standing in.
The tournament also carries significant competitive and ranking implications. Winners gather 2,000 points in the FIP ranking system, which is twice the amount earned by a champion at P1 level and a sum big enough to alter a season in just one Sunday. The four Major tournaments sit at the top of the hierarchy, and a player's career is often judged by how many Majors they've won.
Yet if you ask anybody who's taken part in this tournament, the ranking list is the second point they will raise. The first one is the court.
02
The “Philippe-Chatrier Effect”
Alejandro Galán on the hallowed ground of Roland-Garros
© Jure Makovec/Red Bull Content Pool
Centre Court Philippe-Chatrier holds close to 15,000 people. Most padel venues, even the greatest ones, hold a fraction of that. The stadium’s sheer size makes an impact on players from the moment they come out of the locker room, but what truly sets this court apart is what these stars can see from inside the glass.
Arturo Coello, the world’s number-one player and three-time-in-a-row Paris Major champion, described the sensation on his own YouTube channel earlier this year: "Subconsciously, you get very excited in that environment," he said. "The arena in Madrid is also very large, but you can't see the end of the stadium from the court. Here at Roland-Garros, you see the entire crowd. You can't make out faces, but you can see that it's full."
That's the part broadcast cameras never really capture. On most courts, a player's field of vision stops at the first few rows. At Chatrier, the stands climb in front of you and keep climbing. The panoramic view from inside the court and above the stadium is filled with passionate fans.
An additional ingredient makes tournament week at Philippe Chatrier even more unforgettable: the night sessions, which have become the tournament's signature. Under the floodlights, with the roof structure closing the sound in, a padel rally on Chatrier sounds like something else entirely. Players who have spent a season in sports halls arrive in Paris and find their own smash landing in a giant “room” that answers back.
03
The moment padel walked into a tennis cathedral
Alejandro Galán and Federico Chingotto - former rivals become team-mates
© Premier Padel/Red Bull Content Pool
Padel arrived at Roland Garros in July 2022, marking one of the most impactful milestones in the sport’s history. Alejandro Galán and Juan Lebrón, then the world's best pair, beat Federico Chingotto and Juan Tello 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to become the first champions ever crowned on that ground.
Arnaud Di Pasquale, the FTF (French Tennis Federation) event director, called it exactly what it was. "To see the Roland-Garros stadium vibrate and celebrate padel and its stars was an incredible moment," he said after that first edition.
For the previous generation of padel players that had spent careers playing in considerably more modest venues, playing at Roland-Garros was nothing short of a dream come true. Juan Martín Díaz, one of the greatest players in the sport's history and by then at the end of his career, played the tournament and posted a photograph from the court with a caption that has aged into a landmark. "I never thought padel would end up being played here," he wrote. "It is a dream fulfilled at the end of my career."
Four years later, that dream has a signed contract and a clear horizon. The FFT and Premier Padel renewed their agreement in March 2025, keeping the Paris Major at Roland Garros until at least 2029, and locking the tournament into the second week of September.
04
The applause before the first ball
Juan Lebrón won the first-ever tournament at Roland-Garros alongside Galán
© Premier Padel/Red Bull Content Pool
Arguably one of the best descriptions of what makes this tournament different comes from someone who has experienced the environment at Roland-Garros from a privileged spot: the coach’s bench.
Jorge Martínez has coached Alejandro Galán since the Spaniard was a teenager and now sits alongside Galán and Chingotto at every Premier Padel event. He's watched stadiums grow around him for three decades, from a third tier sitting empty to the same tier full two years later. This venue sits at the top of his list.
"When they introduce the players, everyone stands up and applauds before the match starts," Martínez says of Roland Garros. "It's applause for the players for the mere fact of being there. Seeing a whole stadium clapping before the start, that's a very beautiful detail."
It's a small thing that says everything. In Paris, the sports-savvy crowd is applauding the sport as much as the pair walking out.
Players from outside the top 10 describe the same pull. Jérémy Scatena, a former French number one, summed it up bluntly in an interview with Padel Magazine: he called the Paris Major, "the most beautiful tournament in the world". Benjamin Tison, another French professional, put it the way most first-timers do after their debut on the main court in an interview with the same media outlet: "Playing at Roland-Garros on the centre court is incredible."
For a French player, a wild card - an invitation from the tournament as a boost to local players - into this draw is the biggest week of their career. For a Spanish or Argentine star, it's the week their families fly in for. Nobody treats Paris as just another stop.
05
The numbers behind padel's biggest week
Alejandro Galán spends a few moments with fans at Roland-Garros
© Jure Makovec/Red Bull Content Pool
The aura around the Paris Major is backed by solid numbers and data, too, with 2025 as the edition that removed any doubt.
The 2025 Alpine Paris Major drew 62,128 spectators across the week, including 27,000 across the finals weekend alone, a record for a padel tournament. Daily attendance averaged 8,875, up 24.5 percent from 2024. The event generated 176m impressions and views across social platforms and more than 2.5m views on YouTube, putting Paris among the most-watched padel tournaments on earth.
The trophy was a highlight in and of itself. Zinedine Zidane and Formula One driver Pierre Gasly handed over the silverware in front of a full Chatrier, on a Sunday afternoon in September.
Pierre Gasly and Zinedine Zidane awarded the trophy at the 2025 event
© Jure Makovec/Red Bull Content Pool
France has earned that audience. The country has raced past 4,000 courts and, according to the 2026 Global Padel Report, added more new courts in 2025 than any other nation. The Paris Major is the unmatched shop window for one of the fastest-growing padel markets in the world.
On the court, the honours list is short and heavy. Galán and Lebrón took the first title in 2022. Coello and Tapia have won every edition since, beating Chingotto and Paquito Navarro in 2023 and then Galán and Chingotto in both 2024 and 2025. In the women's draw, Ariana Sánchez and Paula Josemaría won in 2023 and 2024 before Gemma Triay and Delfina Brea took the 2025 title, 7-5, 6-2, against Marta Ortega and Tamara Icardo.
06
Who are the favourites to win the 2026 Premier Padel Alpine Paris Major?
Agustin Tapia and Arturo Coello have won twice in a row
© Jure Makovec/Red Bull Content Pool
Delfina Brea and Gemma Triay are defending champions
© Jure Makovec/Red Bull Content Pool
Coello and Tapia arrive as the pair to beat in the men's draw, as they have all season. They took the BNL Italy Major in Rome in June, beating Galán and Chingotto 7-5, 7-6(4), and they're chasing a historic fourth consecutive Paris title.
Galán and Chingotto are the obvious challengers, and Paris is personal for both of them. Chingalán have now lost the Paris final in two straight years, and Galán knows what the other side of that feels like, having lifted the first trophy ever awarded on this ground.
'El Lobo' Juan Lebrón is also a clear contender. The 2022 champion returns with Leo Augsburger, forming the world’s number-three team, built on Lebrón's unmatched transition game and Augsburger's raw power and unstoppable smash. A fast court in front of a loud crowd is exactly where that combination thrives.
In the women's draw, Triay and Brea come in as defending champions and world number ones. Bea González and Paula Josemaría, seeded second, have paired up with one goal, and a Major is the fastest way to make the ranking argument. Both pairs play the same aggressive, front-foot padel, which is why every meeting between them in 2026 has been worth the ticket.
07
How to watch the Alpine Paris Major 2026
Alejandro Galán won't want to lose three Paris finals in a row
© Jure Makovec/Red Bull Content Pool
The Alpine Paris Major runs from Monday, September 7 to Sunday, September 13 2026 at Stade Roland-Garros in Paris. Qualifying takes place on Monday, the main draw runs from Tuesday to Thursday, and the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals fill the weekend. Matches are played across six courts, with the biggest face-offs on Philippe-Chatrier and signature evening sessions under the lights.
New for 2026 is the Padel Festival, which opens on Sunday, September 6 and turns the grounds into an open day of introductory sessions, DJ sets, food stalls and lawn games. Tickets start at 10€ for the festival and 15€ or qualifying, with later rounds from 25€. A single-day ticket covers both the day and evening sessions.
Red Bull TV broadcasts every Premier Padel match from the quarter-finals onwards, which means every match on Chatrier from Friday to Sunday.
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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