For Coello, the No. 1 race will be decided later in 2026
Arturo Coello once believed a pair could build enough of a lead in spring to settle the race for world No. 1 early. In Bandeja+, he says he has moved away from that idea. The 2026 season has shown him how quickly a gap can close and how many of the most valuable ranking events arrive later in the year.
At around 6:35 in the interview, the Valladolid player sums up that shift in thinking:
“For years, I thought we could decide the number one spot in May, June or July. The reality is that we cannot.”
The calendar supports his point. The Qatar Major, originally scheduled for 6 to 11 April, was postponed after disruption linked to the conflict in the region. In May, the FIP and Premier Padel then reworked the season, upgrading Kuwait to a Major and Pretoria to a P1.
Coello estimates in the video that nearly 6,000 points will be distributed over roughly two and a half months. He is no longer trying to create a decisive gap in the first half of the season. His priority is to reach the events offering the most points with the right competitive rhythm.
“The points and the important moments are almost more concentrated in the other part of the year.”
Coello and Tapia respond after Buenos Aires
The interview was recorded in Argentina, when Alejandro Galán and Federico Chingotto had gained the upper hand in several finals against Coello and Agustín Tapia. The Spaniard said the goal was to reverse that run without changing the central task: raise their level of play before the second half of the season.
The results shifted quickly. Coello and Tapia won Rome, Valencia, Valladolid, Bordeaux and Málaga before losing in the Pretoria semifinals. They then won the London P1 on 9 August, beating Galán and Chingotto 6-3, 5-7, 7-5. Premier Padel listed it as their eighth title of 2026, while Coello remains first in the FIP ranking.
Actu Padel had already covered their fourth straight title in Bordeaux. That run shows how a trend established in spring can be reversed within weeks, exactly the kind of scenario Coello now wants to factor into his season management.
The tour resumes with the Madrid P1 from 28 August to 5 September, followed by the Paris Major. The full Bandeja+ interview makes Coello’s adjustment clear: the ranking is no longer something to wrap up early, but an objective built all the way through the final major events.
