A small crowd mobbed Agustin Tapia as he exited the court after lifting the men’s trophy at the inaugural Premier Padel P1 London, wanting signatures and photos with the phenomenon.
The Argentine and his partner Arturo Coello, who together form the world’s No.1 pairing, had just defeated serial finalists and Super Clasico rivals Ale Galan and Fede Chingotto, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, to become the first-ever winners of a Premier Padel tournament in the UK.
The number of Tapia shirts dotted around Olympia London, and the reaction following the final, were telling. Padel fever is starting to embed on British shores. Tapia is proud that he (with his 1.2 million Instagram followers) and the sport are making such an impact.
Speaking in a press conference after the game, Tapia told The Padel Paper: “Obviously the tournament has been fantastic. The venue has been fantastic. The city is fantastic.
“Also I feel more proud because I can see new faces in the crowd in a country as prominent in sports as the UK. Padel has found its way to become popular and to fill up the stadium for the weekend, as we have seen.
“I was surprised. Obviously I feel very proud when I see my shirt in the crowd because at the end it’s people that support me and that’s very nice.”
In the first set, two breaks put the no.1 seeds in control, but they conceded the only break of the match in the 11th game of the second set, allowing the ‘Chingalan’ to take the match into a decider.
Just when the tiebreak seemed inevitable, Coello and Tapia produced a decisive push to claim their eighth Premier Padel title, following their victories in Riyadh, Cancun, Rome, Valencia, Valladolid, Bordeaux and Malaga.
In the women’s final, Martina Calvo became the youngest player ever to win a Premier Padel title at 18 years, one month and four days.
While Calvo and partner Claudia Fernandez came close to winning their first title in Pretoria the week before, they secured it in England at the expense of Delfi Brea and Gemma Triay.
The match ended 7-5, 6-3 in one hour and 45 minutes, with the no.4 seeds taking an early lead (first 3-0, then 4-1), before the no.1 seeds fought their way back, only to lose serve again just before the tiebreak.
In the second set, Claudia and Martina raced to a 5-0 lead; Delfi and Gemma closed the gap to 3-5, but were unable to complete the comeback.
“I have fulfilled a dream”, said Calvo. “I have watched so many finals on television and always wondered what it would feel like to play one. Now I hope to play and win many more.”
“I am delighted”, added Fernandez, who had already won six titles in 2024 with Gemma Triay and six more in 2025 with Bea Gonzalez. “Things did not go our way in Pretoria, but fortunately this time we managed to change the ending. And now? Now we are going to enjoy a well-deserved holiday.”
The Premier Padel Tour now takes a break for the summer. When the season resumes at the end of the month, there will be two tournaments in two weeks: the P1 in Madrid and the Major in Paris.
