🔍 TL;DR
Happy holidays, dear readers! Hope this time has brought much rest, relaxation, and joy as we inch closer into 2026. 🎄🕎☃️
📰 Here’s what we’ll be covering this week:
🏆 The Kings & Queens of ‘25 are crowned, but dynasties start to wobble
🤑 FIP goes full “lifelong athlete” with amateur prize money from 18 to 60+
💂♂️ Not a great look for London…
💸 India moves faster into global padel
Plus: New 🇺🇸 padel courts, Indonesia’s padel boom, Chingotto & Brea’s secret weapon, and padel at altitude
If you’re reading this via the web, get this straight to your inbox 👇
🏆 TOURNAMENT ROUNDUP
🏆 FIP Rankings Are In: The Kings & Queens of 2025
One-Sentence Rundown
Agustín Tapia, Arturo Coello, Delfi Brea, and Gemma Triay are the world’s #1 players after a season of dominance, drama, and reshuffled partnerships.
The Details
Men’s Rankings
🥇 Agustín Tapia & Arturo Coello ran an absolute clinic in 2025, winning 13 of 23 tournaments, including 3 Majors, 6 P1s, and the Premier Padel Tour Finals in Barcelona
🥈 Alejandro Galán & Federico Chingotto were the clear challengers, capped by a massive World Cup Pairs title in Kuwait, proving they’re not just “best of the rest”
🥉 Franco “Stupa” Stupaczuk & Juan Lebrón brought fireworks before splitting… Stupa ultimately finishing ahead after reuniting with fellow Argentine Martín Di Nenno and winning the season finale
Women’s Rankings
🥇 Delfi Brea & Gemma Triay surged past the incumbents mid-season and locked in No. 1 with relentless consistency and aggressive court control
🥈 Ariana Sánchez & Paula Josemaría bowed out as legends: 44 titles, five years together, and one final World Cup statement
🥉 Bea González & Claudia Fernández quietly became the most dangerous disruptors, finishing <200 points off second after a breakout season
OUR TAKE
This season felt like a dynasty under pressure, with contenders close enough to smell blood but not quite land the knockout. Tapia-Coello remain the gold standard, but the gap is shrinking fast - especially with Galán-Chingotto peaking at the right moments. On the women’s side, the end of Sánchez-Josemaría marks a true era shift, while Brea-Triay look built for a longer reign. Looking ahead, 2026 is shaping up to be a chaotic year of the underdog, and we’re here for it.
🌍 INTERNATIONAL PADEL SCENE
🤑 Now Grandpa, Mom, and Junior Can All Make Bank Playing Padel! (🇨🇭)
One-Sentence Rundown
The International Padel Federation (FIP) just launched FIP Beyond: a new global competition circuit built specifically for amateur players of all ages, complete with rankings, prize money, and world-level events.
The Details
Three tournament tiers designed to scale globally:
B1: €6,000-€18,000 total prize money
B2: €3,600-€10,800 total prize money
B3: No prize money, just for bragging rights & bruised egos
Age categories span from 18 to 60+, with mandatory +40 and +50 brackets at every event
Senior divisions (+40 to +60) earn prize money in B1 and B2 events, with payouts for champions, finalists, and semifinalists
Players earn points toward a global FIP Beyond Ranking
Rankings unlock access to marquee events like the FIP Beyond Finals, Continental Cup by Pairs, and the World Cup by Pairs
OUR TAKE
Alas, the FIP is finally getting serious about amateur padel. Structured tiers, international rankings, prize money for senior players, and a clear pathway to global events will keep people competing and committed.
More importantly, FIP Beyond formalizes the “lifelong padel player” idea (whether you’re 22 grinding your first tournament or 52 chasing a trophy between work trips). We’re incredibly stoked for this!
💂♀️ Padel Is Getting a Not-So-Great Rap in London (🇬🇧)
One-Sentence Rundown
While padel has exploded across the UK, soaring court prices in London have turned what’s still a working-class staple in Spain into a shiny after-work playground for Britain’s finance bros.
The Details
In the UK, padel participation has surged to 400,000+ players and ~900 courts, and London prices have pulled away rapidly
Peak-time courts in central London now hit £40–£80/hour
Compare that to Spain, where public courts in Madrid can still cost €6–€10/hour… and even luxury resorts hover around €20
Local TikTok has predictably gone feral, dubbing padel “the finance bro sport” after pop-up courts appeared near St Paul’s Cathedral
Celebs like David Beckham, Andy Murray, and even Prince William have piled in, accelerating the hype cycle
Corporate padel is now very much a thing, with clubs pitching themselves as places “where business meets the court” (i.e., client schmoozing, branded tournaments, post-match negronis)
OUR TAKE
This is what happens when a frictionless, social sport collides with scarcity economics and urban real estate. In Spain, padel thrives because it’s cheap, public, and everywhere (played by teenagers, retirees, and construction workers alike). In London, constrained supply + premium positioning has flipped the script, turning padel into a networking asset rather than a cultural one. Over time, pricing out young local players risks hollowing out the grassroots pipeline entirely.
💸 India Ups Its Ante in Global Padel (🇮🇳)
One-Sentence Rundown
PadelPark India, a key player in growing the country’s padel ecosystem, just bought its way onto the world stage by investing in the Hexagon Cup.
The Details
PadelPark India has taken an equity stake in Hexagon Cup Holdings, the group behind the star-studded Hexagon Cup and its upcoming expansion: the Hexagon World Series (which we covered in last week’s issue here).
This marks PadelPark’s first major move outside India, shifting from domestic court-building to global ecosystem ownership
The financing round also includes heavyweight padel operators like Padel Hub (UK), Epic Padel (US), Players Fund (UK), and LinkinFirm (Brazil), plus partners from Spain, Mexico, and the Middle East
OUR TAKE
This is a power shift, where India is buying a seat at the global table. By investing at the holding-company level, PadelPark is betting on how elite padel is organized, commercialized, and scaled worldwide.
Zooming out: if Europe and LatAm built padel’s culture, India may help finance and globalize its next chapter. And with participation booming across Indian metros, this move quietly positions the country as a future talent pipeline, host market, and commercial engine… not just a late adopter.
🦅 NEW US FACILITY OPENINGS
🐊 Shipping Down to Boca (🇺🇸)
MatchSet Racquet Sports & Lifestyle just opened a 3,000-sq-ft racquet sports playground in downtown Boca Raton, FL. The complex will serve tennis, pickleball and padel players under one roof. Additional features include a pro shop and clubhouse.
🎯 QUICK HITS
Bloomberg covers Indonesia’s rise as Asia’s “padel powerhouse” 🇮🇩
Peep this insider interview with Gabriel Reca, the low-profile Argentine coach who trained Federico Chingotto & Delfi Brea 🇦🇷
Now you can play padel at over 6,100 feet… 🇫🇷
🤩 COOL PADEL COURT OF THE WEEK
📍 Tangerang Regency, 🇮🇩
More info here!
Missed a recent issue? We’ve got you covered:
For more 🌍 padel content, follow @padelyanqui on Instagram! 🤝 And if you have any feedback or news to share, just respond to this email :)
See you next week & keep smashing those volleys 🎾