Padel
Padel: Ustero and Sánchez score historic win in Riyadh
The women's third seeds completed an epic comeback victory at the 2026 Premier Padel season opener as Coello and Tapia got off to a winning start in the men's competition.
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Andrea Ustero Prieto and new partner Ariana Sánchez Fallada made history by becoming the first all-Catalan Premier Padel winners at the 2026 P1 season opener in Riyadh. Meanwhile, men's top seeds Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia saw off Alejandro Galán and Fede Chingotto to take the men's title in a thrilling week that saw football legends Cristiano Ronaldo, David Silva and David Villa watching live.
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New Catalan pairing take down the top seeds
After opening up their 2026 campaign with straight sets victories in the Round of 16, quarter-final and semi-final matches, Ustero and Sánchez booked their first Premier Padel final as a new pair against the top seeds, Gemma Triay Pons and Delfina Brea Senesi.
Having lost the first set 6-3 at the state-of-the-art Padel Rush Arena, the third seeds reset rapidly to hit back spectacularly 6-1 in the second set, then held their nerve in the decider 6-4 to claim their first title together on the Premier Padel circuit in one hour and 56 minutes of action.
Sánchez takes aim during the semi-final in Riyadh
© Premier Padel/Red Bull Content Pool
Ustero and Sánchez celebrate their first victory
© Premier Padel/Red Bull Content Pool
Ustero, who has rotated through partnerships already in her young career, has now added a maiden P1 title to the P2 title that she won in Bordeaux last season alongside Portugal's Sofia Araújo. The 18-year-old's new pairing with former world number one Sánchez is expected to challenge the likes of world number one duo Triay and Brea, as well as new Spanish pair Beatriz González and Paula Josemaría Martín from the outset.
For Triay and Brea, a draining three-set semi-final win over fourth seeds Claudia Fernández Sánchez and Araújo may well have left their tanks nearing empty in the final loss. They claimed the first set 7-5 in that Friday match, were pegged back 7-5 in the next before closing it out 6-3 in an epic tie that saw the crowd on the edge of their seats over two hours and 25 minutes of play.
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Watch replay: Premier Padel 2026 Riyadh final showdown
Final – Riyadh
See the two remaining teams battle it out for the top prize at the Riyadh Premier Padel P1 tournament.
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Coello and Tapia dig deep to lift men's trophy
Coello and Tapia held off Galán and Chingotto at the back end of last year to retain their number one world ranking heading into 2026, but they were given a shock in their first match of the season against lucky losers, who took the first set 6-3 before experience told and the top seeds took the next two sets 6-1 6-2.
After edging two tie-breaks against 14th seeds Jairo Bautista and Lucas Campagnolo in the Round of 16, the pair then benefitted from a retirement in the quarter-finals. They had to dig deep, however, to get past fourth seeds Leandro Augsburger and Juan Lebrón in a classic semi-final that first went the top seeds' way 7-6, then back 6-7, before they held firm to win the decider 6-4.
Tapia and Coello made it four wins in a row
© Premier Padel/Red Bull Content Pool
Down the bottom of the draw, Galán and Chingotto were near faultless in advancing to their first final of 2026, dropping just 16 games as they cruised through the rounds. On Saturday, however, they came up against a brick wall as Coello and Tapia needed just 65 minutes to triumph 6-4 6-2.
Not only was it a fourth victory in a row for the men's top pairing, but the win also saw Tapia notch up his 54th title to overtake Galán as the most decorated active padel player.
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Up next: Gijón P2
The padel action returns to Spain on March 2-8 for the Gijón P2. Last year, there was a shock win at the season's second event, when teenage duo Francisco 'Curro' Cabeza and Diego García went on a fairytale run to lift the trophy. In the women's competition, Triay and Brea will be hoping to return to winning ways at the scene of their first victory together last year.
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