History at Olympia: teenage champions and a Superclásico settle the London P1
Coello and Tapia won the men's final in three sets, but 18-year-old Martina Calvo stole the weekend — the youngest champion in professional padel history, crowned in London.
By Padel Roundup ·
The first Premier Padel tournament on British soil needed a finish worthy of the occasion, and Sunday at Olympia delivered two of them — one that confirmed what everyone knows about the men’s game, and one that rewrote the record books entirely.
Calvo and Fernández: the story of the weekend
Eighteen-year-old Martina Calvo and Claudia Fernández beat the world’s best pair, Gemma Triay and Delfina Brea, 7-5, 6-3 to take the women’s title — and with it, a piece of history: at 18 years, one month and four days old, Calvo becomes the youngest player ever to win a professional padel title.
The context makes it better. This was only the pair’s second tournament together. In their first, in Pretoria the week before, they reached the final and lost to the same top-ranked opposition. In London they went one better, and the manner of it — saving a 0-40 game deep in the second set rather than letting the match drift to a decider — was the kind of nerveless closing that veterans spend careers learning. Triay and Brea had arrived as back-to-back champions and Race leaders; they left having been, in the Spanish press’s phrase, dethroned by the sport’s most precocious pairing.
British padel has spent the week talking about the gap between its best players and the tour. The women’s final offered a different lesson: the next generation doesn’t wait politely. The pair who won this title were juniors five minutes ago.
The Superclásico goes the way Superclásicos usually do
The men’s final was the one the seedings — and frankly the whole sport — wanted: world No.1s Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia against Alejandro Galán and Federico Chingotto, the Race leaders and the only pair who’ve seriously threatened them all season. It went to Coello and Tapia in three sets, the champions dropping the second before pulling clear in the third — their eighth title of 2026, and a pointed answer to anyone who read too much into their streak-ending semi-final defeat in Pretoria a few weeks earlier.
The semi-finals had their own drama. Galán and Chingotto’s 7-6, 6-3 win over Juan Lebrón and Leo Augsburger turned on a disputed tie-break smash and a five-game comeback from 0-3 down; Coello and Tapia’s 6-2, 6-3 dismissal of Paquito Navarro and Martín Di Nenno took 57 largely one-sided minutes. If you’re new to watching the professional game, that contrast is worth understanding: the top of men’s padel is currently two pairs and then everyone else, and London did nothing to change the maths.
What the week proved
Strip out the results and the tournament answered its real question: Britain will turn up for professional padel. The 4,000-seat centre court in Olympia’s Grand Hall was sold out from the quarter-finals onwards, the late broadcast deals (Red Bull TV free, plus TNT Sports and HBO Max) gave the sport mainstream shelf space it has never had in the UK, and the five-year Olympia deal means this becomes an annual fixture rather than an experiment.
There are honest caveats. Early rounds played to visible empty seats, all the British wildcards were gone before the weekend, and a 4,000-seat hall is modest against the crowds padel draws in Madrid or Buenos Aires. But first editions are for proving the concept. The concept is proven — and next August, when the tour returns to London, it will find a market that has now seen the real thing up close.
For anyone whose interest was sparked this weekend: here’s what padel actually is, and here’s everything you need for a first game. Fair warning — the teenagers are already better than you.
Results via Padel Addict and the LTA’s tournament hub, where full draws and scores are available.
Frequently asked questions
Who won the London Premier Padel P1?
Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia won the men's title, beating Alejandro Galán and Federico Chingotto in three sets. Martina Calvo and Claudia Fernández won the women's title, defeating Gemma Triay and Delfina Brea 7-5, 6-3.
Why was the women's London P1 final historic?
At 18 years and one month old, Martina Calvo became the youngest player ever to win a professional padel title. It was only her second tournament partnering Claudia Fernández — they lost the Pretoria final the week before, then went one better in London.
Will Premier Padel return to London?
Yes. Olympia is contracted to host the London P1 for five years, so the tournament is set to be an annual fixture — expect dates around early August again in 2027.
How many titles have Coello and Tapia won in 2026?
The London P1 was their eighth title of the 2026 season, re-establishing their grip on the men's game after their long finals streak ended in Pretoria earlier in the summer.