London P1: Leal-Guerrero and Yanguas-Stupaczuk Exit in Shock R16

Pretoria Finalists Crash in Opening Match

Four days after eliminating world number ones Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia in the Pretoria P1 semi-finals and then pushing Alejandro Galán and Federico Chingotto to a dramatic three-set final, Javi Leal and Fran Guerrero touched down in London with barely a day's rest between the two tours. On Wednesday at Olympia, the toll became apparent.

Seventh-seeded Leal and Guerrero were beaten in their opening match at Britain's first-ever Premier Padel P1 by unseeded Curro Cabeza and Mariano González, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, in one hour and 46 minutes. The Spanish-Paraguayan pair — both born in 2007 and ranked inside the global top 100 — pressed high from the first exchange, imposing a tempo that their more experienced opponents struggled to sustain. Leal and Guerrero rallied to level at one set apiece, but González and Cabeza held their nerve in the decider, closing 7-5 to complete one of the week's most striking upsets.

The condensed schedule between two consecutive P1 events — Pretoria finishing on Sunday, London opening the following Tuesday — is the most obvious factor behind the defeat. The pair's South African run had cost them significant physical and psychological reserves: their semi-final win over Coello-Tapia alone went to a demanding third set before a final that stretched to three. They arrived at Olympia with little buffer and it showed.

Solano and Pereyra Take Down Third Seeds

The same day brought a second major shock. Qualifier pair José Solano Marmolejo and Ramiro Pereyra completed one of the round's biggest upsets by eliminating third-ranked Mike Yanguas and Franco Stupaczuk 6-7, 6-4, 6-1 on the Olympia centre court.

Solano, ranked 151st in the FIP world standings, and Pereyra, 104th, had come through the London qualifying draw to reach the main event. Earlier in the 2026 season at the Málaga P1, the same Yanguas-Stupaczuk pairing had beaten them 6-2, 6-4. At Olympia, the script flipped decisively. From a tense opening set that went to a tiebreak — and which Yanguas-Stupaczuk edged — Solano-Pereyra grew steadily into the match, levelled by taking the second 6-4, then dominated the decider 6-1. For Yanguas and Stupaczuk, who reunited as a partnership ahead of 2026 and had been among the pre-tournament favourites, it is their second successive failure to reach the quarter-finals of a P1 event.

A Draw That Opens Considerably

Wednesday also brought the elimination of Javi Garrido and Lucas Bergamini, who fell to Juan Cruz Belluati and Ignacio Piotto 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, continuing a difficult pattern of early exits that has marked the second half of their season. Three partnerships from the upper half of the ranking are now out before Friday's last eight.

Number-one seeds Coello-Tapia and reigning Pretoria champions Galán-Chingotto remain on course for a potential semi-final meeting at Olympia. With several qualifier pairs advancing and the top of the draw thinned out, the quarter-finals are shaping up to be more open than the seedings ever suggested.

Quarter-Finals at Olympia: Friday 7 August

The London P1 quarter-finals begin at 10:00 a.m. local time on Friday 7 August. Red Bull TV covers the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final exclusively; earlier rounds remain on the Premier Padel YouTube channel. The women's draw, led by top seeds Gemma Triay and Delfi Brea, runs in parallel and concludes with a final on Sunday 9 August at 3:00 p.m. Paris time.