Photos: Premier Padel
The Plaza Mayor brings down the curtain on the longest-running tournament in the history of professional padel. Twenty years of competition. Twenty years of unique scenes in this urban setting, with the June heat bearing down to the very last point. That’s how the Valladolid P2 finals unfolded.
Another Superclásico – the thirty-seventh between these two couples and now the fifth in a row – saw them face off in yet another final. A somewhat lacklustre match, which was also down to the unforgiving conditions. And it was the third match in a row in which Chingotto once again showed signs of illness.
A straightforward, precise and accurate performance from the number 1s. They broke serve again just when they needed to: leading 5–4 in the first set, they stepped it up a gear, and the first set was theirs by 6–4. That was all it took. In the second set, play was halted again for several minutes to attend to Fede. He returned to the court, but immediately afterwards they conceded a break, and the world’s top couple closed out the match 6–3.
A victory that means more than meets the eye. Arturo and Agus have gone over a year without losing an outdoor match, and their last outdoor defeat came against these very same opponents at the 2025 Italy Major. In Valladolid, with Arturo playing on home turf, that run remains intact. Coello and Tapia also remain at the top of the RACE 2026 standings, and this victory allows them to extend their lead further ahead of Bordeaux.
It wasn’t the most entertaining match to watch, given the court conditions: erratic and unusual play from all four players. But it is in matches like this that you appreciate the intangibles – those qualities possessed by true champions. What is known as knowing how to compete.
And that is precisely what Andrea Ustero, the youngest of the four at just 19 years old and, so to speak, a newcomer to the elite, was lacking today. She struggled at the key moments of the match. But it is only a matter of time before she becomes number 1: she has talent in spades.
This final also held a special intrigue. It was the first meeting in a final between Ari Sánchez and Paula Josemaría since they stopped playing as a couple, having formed one of the most successful duos in the history of women’s padel: world champions, number 1 for two consecutive seasons and 44 titles together. Their last encounter, at the Italy Major, was also the longest match in padel history: four hours and twelve minutes on the court.
Bea González and Paula Josemaría finally defeated Ari Sánchez and Andrea Ustero 6-4, 6-2, securing their sixth title of the season, having won five in a row at the start of the year but failing to lift a trophy since Buenos Aires.
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