Pol Hernández and Manu Castaño: 22 and 17, two Top 60 players
Pol Hernández is 22 and sits 38th in the FIP world ranking dated September 14, 2026. The Spaniard is listed as a right-side player. Manu Castaño, born on October 3, 2008, is 17, ranks 57th and plays on the left. Both can therefore stay on their usual side when they make their debut together.
Castaño won five titles on the CUPRA FIP Tour in 2025, according to the FIP. In 2026, he reached the round of 16 in Riyadh and Miami. Hernández won the FIP Silver events in Dubai and Espoo in February with Guillermo Collado, his partner during the first part of the season.
FIP Platinum Lyon will be their first official competition together
FIP Platinum Lyon runs from September 21 to 27, 2026, with the main draw starting on Wednesday, September 23. The men’s entry list updated by the FIP on September 11 places Castaño and Hernández ninth among the pairs directly admitted to the main draw, with 2,978 team points in that edition of the list.
The FIP places them ninth on the entry list. That entry order does not by itself assign them the No. 9 seed in the final draw. The verified information at this stage is that they have direct entry into the main draw.
Hernández ends a partnership of more than a year with Guillermo Collado
Pol Hernández announced in early September that his partnership with Guillermo Collado would end after more than a year of competing together. In his Instagram message, he explained that the split was intended to allow both players to continue their careers separately.
We know this is the best decision for us to continue our careers.
This is a faithful translation of the message Hernández published in Spanish. His farewell post, which documents the context behind the partner change, is embedded below.
The Lyon entry list is the FIP document that currently confirms the Hernández-Castaño partnership. Their first match together is scheduled for the first round of the main draw on Wednesday, September 23. Their opponent had not yet been published on the FIP event page at the time of this check.
