The Pretoria Premier Padel P1 2026 has been an outstanding success. Excellent organisation, impressive crowds, the passion shown by South African fans for padel and the extensive media coverage across the country have turned the tournament into one of the standout events of the season.

Against this backdrop, two pairs have stolen the spotlight by reaching maiden Premier Padel finals. In the women's draw, Claudia Fernández and Martina Calvo; in the men's, Javi Leal and Fran Guerrero. They will take to the court this Sunday from 1:00 pm local time to face the world's top-ranked pair, Gemma Triay and Delfina Brea, and the men's No.2 seeds, Alejandro Galán and Federico Chingotto, respectively.

FIRST PREMIER PADEL FINAL WITHOUT COELLO-TAPIA SINCE MAY 2025

Javi Leal and Fran Guerrero continue to write history in South Africa. After knocking out the No.3 seeds, Juan Lebrón and Leo Augsburger, in the quarter-finals, they produced an even bigger upset on Saturday by defeating the world No.1s in straight sets, 7-5, 7-5, bringing Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia's remarkable run of 27 consecutive Premier Padel finals to an end.

Leal and Guerrero have been playing together since they were nine years old, and in their third spell as a partnership on the Premier Padel tour, they are now just one victory away from lifting their first title. Standing between them and that dream are Alejandro Galán and Federico Chingotto, with Sunday's match marking the first Premier Padel final without the 'Golden Boys' since 25 May 2025 in Asunción, Paraguay.

'Chingalán' secured their 11th final of the season with a composed 7-5, 6-4 victory over Sanyo Gutiérrez and Juanlu Esbri. They will now bid for their sixth title of 2026, one fewer than the seven won so far this season by Coello and Tapia.

THE START OF A PROMISING PARTNERSHIP

Martina Calvo and Claudia Fernández could hardly have wished for a better start to their new partnership. Their first tournament together has already delivered their first final, with the two young Spaniards—Martina is 18 and Claudia 20—making an immediate impact.

Coached by Gaby Reca, they defeated the No.2 seeds, Bea González and Paula Josemaría, in convincing fashion, winning 6-1, 6-4 in one hour and 20 minutes. On Sunday they will contest their first final together, with Martina aiming to become the youngest player ever to win a Premier Padel title at the age of 18 years and 29 days. The record is currently held by Andrea Ustero, who won the Bordeaux P2 in 2025 aged 18 years, two months and four days.

To complete the fairytale, however, they will have to overcome the toughest challenge of all: world No.1s Gemma Triay and Delfina Brea. The top seeds have not dropped a single set in Pretoria and will be chasing their fifth title of the season after cruising past Alejandra Salazar and Aranza Osoro 6-2, 6-1 in the semi-finals.