By Kevin Rademeyer, Sports Journalist.
Photo Credit: Premier Padel.
There is something rather fitting about the first Premier Padel final in London ending with the two pairs who have spent much of the season defining the sport.
Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia will meet Alejandro Galán and Federico Chingotto at Olympia London, bringing together the world’s two leading partnerships for the tenth time this season. It is a rivalry that has become almost routine, although there is nothing routine about watching it.
The semifinals offered a reminder of why.
Coello and Tapia were ruthless against Paquito Navarro and Martín Di Nenno, winning 6 3, 6 2 in less than an hour. It was the sort of performance that suggested their surprise semi final defeat in Pretoria last weekend was little more than an interruption to an otherwise extraordinary run.
For 27 consecutive Premier Padel tournaments, the Golden Boys had reached the final before Pretoria brought that sequence to an end. London has provided an immediate response.
They looked powerful, direct and increasingly comfortable as the match progressed. Once Coello and Tapia establish themselves at the net, opponents are often left with an uncomfortable choice: attempt the spectacular or accept that the point is probably slipping away.
The challenge for Galán and Chingotto will be to prevent them from settling into that rhythm.
“Chingalán” arrived in London with their own momentum after winning the Pretoria P1 last weekend. Their semi final against Juan Lebrón and Leo Augsburger was rather more complicated than the other men’s semi final, but Galán and Chingotto eventually came through 7 6, 6 3.
It was another example of the partnership’s particular strength. Chingotto is rarely interested in making the game look hurried. He absorbs pressure, changes the pace and works relentlessly to create the opening. Galán, by contrast, is the player who can turn that opening into something far more destructive.
That contrast may be the key to Sunday.
Coello and Tapia want the match played on their terms. They have the size, reach and overhead power to make a high ball a dangerous proposition, even from positions where most players would simply be trying to stay in the rally. Tapia’s kick smash is one of the great weapons in the modern game, while Coello has the unusual ability to generate serious attacking pressure from the right side.
Chingotto and Galán will therefore need patience.
Their route into the match is likely to involve longer rallies, deeper lobs and the sort of low, awkward exchanges that deny Coello and Tapia the clean overheads they crave. Chingotto’s work in the transition zone will be particularly important. The chiquita, that deceptively gentle ball which drops towards an opponent’s feet, can be used to take the sting out of an attack and force the Golden Boys to play one more ball than they would like.
That sounds simple. It is anything but.
The margin between a clever chiquita and a ball sitting up for Galán or Tapia to attack is tiny. At this level, a few centimetres can decide an entire game. There is also a psychological element to the final.
Galán and Chingotto dominated the rivalry during the early part of the season, winning four meetings against Coello and Tapia during the spring swing. Their victories in Gijón, Miami, Asunción and Buenos Aires showed that the Golden Boys were not invincible.
Then the balance shifted.
Coello and Tapia answered with victories at the Italy Major in Rome, Valencia, Valladolid and Bordeaux. The rivalry has therefore developed its own rhythm, with one partnership finding an answer before the other inevitably comes back with a response.
That makes Sunday difficult to predict.
The indoor setting at Olympia may favour Coello and Tapia. Faster conditions tend to reward their overhead game and allow them to turn even a small positional advantage into a winning point. Galán and Chingotto, however, have already shown this year that they can beat them by refusing to be drawn into a simple power contest.
The first battle may therefore be less about winners than territory. Who gets to the net first? Who controls the middle? Who can keep the other pair pinned deep without offering up the ball that changes the point?
For Coello and Tapia, the ideal final will probably be short, sharp and aggressive. Serve well, take the first volley early and finish points before Chingotto can start constructing them.
For Galán and Chingotto, patience will be worth almost as much as power. Make the Golden Boys work. Keep the lobs deep. Take away the easy overhead and wait for the court to open.
And then there is Galán.
When the opportunity arrives, few players in the game can attack it with his combination of athleticism and timing. Chingotto’s job is to create those moments. Galán’s is to make them count.
It is a fitting contest for London’s first Premier Padel final.
The Golden Boys are chasing an eighth title of the season and another statement after their brief stumble in Pretoria. Chingalán are seeking a seventh title and, with it, another step towards reclaiming the world number one ranking.
The numbers tell one story. The tactics tell another. But by Sunday afternoon, none of that will matter quite as much as the scoreboard.
London has already delivered the rivalry. Now it gets the final chapter.