The Pretoria P1 already has its first champions in South African history in the Premier Padel era. On August 2, the SunBet Arena was the scene of the victory of Gemma Triay and Delfina Brea, who conquered their fifth tittle of the season after defeating Claudia Fernández and Martina Calvo for 6-2, 6-7 y 7-6. In the men’s draw Alejandro Galán and Federico Chingotto lifted their sixth trophy of the year by defeating Javier Leal and Francisco Guerrero for 6-2, 5-7 y 7-6.
If Pretoria already stood out for its particular playing conditions, the finals were no exception. Almost reflexively, both matches followed the same pattern: the ‘veteran-contender’ pairing, in which the favored teams ultimately asserted their experience, although not without first seeing the contenders come close to victory.
Triay and Brea win their fifth title of the season
In the women’s final, Triay and Brea dominated the first set with authority (6-2). However, Fernández and Calvo reacted when they seemed to be on the ropes. After eliminating the number 2 seeds, Bea González and Paula Josemaría, in the semifinals (6-1 and 6-4), the young Spaniards, determined to give their best, forced the third set by prevailing in the second set tie-break.
In the third set, Fernández and Calvo managed to have a break advantage and were only 2 points away from winning the title. However, in the decisive tiebreak, the experience of the player from Menorca and the one from Buenos Aires once again emerged, closing the score at 7-4 to claim their fifth title of 2026.
“We won thanks to our mindset; we remain focused on the present even in the most challenging moments of the match,” commented Gemma, and then went on to praise the performance of the debuting pair in the tournament. “Congratulations to Claudia and Martina: from now on we will always have to give our best version in order to beat them. Today they demonstrated their full potential.”
Galán and Chingotto withstand the pressure from Leal and Guerrero
The men’s final did not disappoint either. After a first set clearly dominated by Galán and Chingotto (6-2), Leal and Guerrero—who throughout the week had eliminated the third and first seeds—raised their level of play to equalize the match by winning the second set 7-5.
In the third set, the seventh seeds managed to break serve with the score at 5-4 and even had a championship point in the tie-break. However, the world number 2s withstood the pressure and ended up securing the victory, thus achieving their first title since Buenos Aires.
“The heart helped us in the decisive moments,” Chingotto summed up at the end of the match. “We are very happy because Fran and Javi have played an extraordinary tournament. Matches like this show that, by fighting until the end, results always come.”
The debut of Pretoria as the world capital of padel
Pretoria thus draws the curtain after a historic week for padel. The debut of the Premier Padel circuit in South Africa produced two memorable finals and confirmed both the strength of the veteran pairs and the definitive emergence of Fernández, Calvo, Leal, and Guerrero.
The organization of the event did not leave the players indifferent, who highlighted the level and effort demonstrated throughout the week. “We want to congratulate the organization, because we know that it is not easy to successfully carry out a tournament of this quality in its first year,” stated Triay. Minutes later, in the same press conference, Brea emphasized the importance of holding tournaments like this to promote the growth of padel and bring the sport closer to younger audiences.
With hardly any time to rest, the circuit is already heading towards its next stop: London P1, whose main draw begins on August 4 and lasts until the 9th.
