Italy Major 2026: The Number Ones Take Rome Back

Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia ended a five-final losing streak at the most important place to end it. The world number ones beat Alejandro Galán and Federico Chingotto 7-5 7-6(4) at the BNL Italy Major Premier Padel on Sunday night, snapping four straight defeats in the Clásico and taking their second Rome crown after 2023. An hour earlier on the same court, Delfi Brea and Gemma Triay defended their title 6-1 7-5 over Ari Sánchez and Andrea Ustero. Two world number one pairs reclaimed their crowns on the same night in front of 9,000 fans at Foro Italico. The race the Spanish press had been writing into existence, that the seconds were closing the gap, closed back up at the first Major of the year.

Coello and Tapia finally win the Clásico that mattered

Coming into Rome, Coello and Tapia had played five finals since Cancún P2 in March and lost all five. Four of those losses were to Chingotto and Galán, the fifth to Lebrón and Augsburger. The 2026 H2H against Chingalán read 1-4 from the number ones' side. The most recent meeting, the Buenos Aires P1 final three weeks earlier, was close to humiliation: 6-2 6-1 in 1h15. They arrived in Rome having to prove they were still the team to beat in their own season.

The first break came in the eleventh game. Tapia and Coello converted at 5-5 and served out the set 7-5. The momentum carried over. They opened the second with another break and rode it to 5-4 on serve. Coello served for the match, then missed it. Galán and Chingotto saved their best padel of the night to force a tiebreak. The decisive point came at 5-4 in the breaker, when Galán missed a volley that would have squared it up. Coello and Tapia closed 7-6(4) and dropped to the floor.

The numbers tell the story Chingalán couldn't quite write: 58 winners and 21 unforced errors for the champions, 49 and 24 for the runners-up. Match duration 1 hour 33 minutes. It was Coello and Tapia's 23rd consecutive final, a streak that explains both the slump and the recovery: they keep arriving on Sunday no matter what. Coello in the press conference: "It's a special win. Rome is a very important stop and we're very happy with this title. Now we celebrate." Tapia added the obvious one: "It's hard to keep this rhythm, playing finals every week. This was our 23rd in a row, but we're happy to stay in this dynamic." The title is their third of 2026 and pushes the lifetime Clásico head-to-head back to 22-13 in their favour.

The draw that produced the right final

Tapia and Coello beat Garrido and Bergamini 6-3 7-6(6) in a tight quarter, then walked through Momo González and Campagnolo in the semis 6-1 6-4 in 57 minutes. González with one of 2026's loudest emerging Italians was the draw's structural surprise. On the other side, Brussels P2 champions Lebrón and Augsburger survived Sanz and Nieto in the quarters 6-4 7-6(4) and ran into Galán and Chingotto in the semis, who removed them 7-6(5) 6-3. Chingalán were 33-3 together coming into Rome. A final loss doesn't change that. It just confirms that the only team who can consistently beat them is the team they spent April and May beating.

Brea and Triay defend a title nobody else defended

Brea and Triay came into the women's final having lost five consecutive finals of their own. The pattern across the top of both draws in 2026 is symmetrical that way: the number ones bleeding finals to a couple of relentless number twos, then reclaiming them when the prize is biggest. For Brea and Triay it's back-to-back in Rome. For Triay personally it's a third Roman title; she also won here in 2023 with Marta Ortega. Their coach Seba Nerone finally got the season's hardest title on his shelf.

The final read like a tired team trying to climb a mountain. Sánchez and Ustero had just come out of the longest match ever played on the Premier Padel circuit: 4 hours 12 minutes in their semifinal against Paula Josemaría and Bea González, won 5-7 7-6(8) 7-6(6). They started the final like a team that had played 4h12 the day before, with two early breaks from Brea and Triay closing the first set 6-1. The second set was the real one. Sánchez and Ustero settled, climbed to 4-2, and reached 5-4 with the chance to serve and force a third. The number ones answered with two consecutive breaks and closed 7-5.

Triay summed it up plainly: "Winning this tournament is very important after losing five consecutive finals. There were 2,000 points on the line and we played a great final after a complicated week." Brea, in tears with her family courtside: "We won in a packed stadium with a really special atmosphere. We're very happy."

Italian padel got its biggest week too. Giulia Dal Pozzo, paired with Nuria Rodríguez, became the first Italian woman ever to reach a Major semifinal. She fell to Brea and Triay 6-3 6-3, but the noise inside Foro Italico when she walked out was a result on its own.

What it leaves us with

The losing streaks that defined the spring, Coello and Tapia's five and Brea and Triay's five, are over. The 2026 Clásico H2H is back to 22-13. Galán and Chingotto remain the team that beat the number ones four times in three months, and their 33-4 record is still the best in the sport, but the title that mattered most went the other way. The tour now moves to Spain: the Valencia P1 starts Monday. Coello and Tapia get one week of celebration before they have to defend it.

Vamos.net. Italy Major 2026, BNL Premier Padel, Foro Italico, 1-7 June.