Lyon Platinum Main Draw Opens With 300 Race Points on the Line

First Round Fires Up at Palais des Sports de Gerland

After two days of qualifying rounds that filled the last four spots in each draw, the FIP Platinum Lyon 2026 main draw got under way on Wednesday at the Palais des Sports de Gerland. Twenty-eight pairs in both the men's and women's draws are competing across five days for a combined prize fund of €130,000 and, more crucially for the season's top competitors, 300 points toward the FIP Race to Barcelona — the biggest single allocation still available on the CUPRA FIP Tour calendar.

With 13 players already locked into the Barcelona Finals and 19 spots still to be claimed across both genders, virtually every match at Gerland this week carries outsized implications for the end-of-season showdown.

Men: Stupaczuk and Sanz Hold Serve as Rivals Battle In

Top seeds Franco Stupaczuk and Jon Sanz — who have built one of the most formidable FIP Tour partnerships of the 2026 season — received a first-round bye and will not appear until Thursday's Round of 16. That leaves Wednesday's action to the unseeded and lower-seeded half of the draw.

The morning session opened with Juanlu Esbrí / Iñigo Jofre against Manuel Aragón / Albert Roglan, followed by Flavio Abbate / Alonso Rodríguez Martínez versus Timeo Fonteny / Nacho Moragues — the latter pairing representing France's best men's hopes of advancing deep into the tournament.

The afternoon schedule carried equal weight: Javi Garrido / Sanyo Gutiérrez — a seasoned pair with Premier Padel pedigree — faced Adam Axelsson / Dylan Guichard in what many analysts regarded as the day's standout men's contest. In the parallel court, Miguel Lamperti / Octavio Álvarez took on Jesús Moya / Thomas Leygue in another clash where the Spanish-speaking axis met a Franco–Spanish hybrid pairing.

Women: French Quartet Faces Immediate Tests

The women's draw arrived at Gerland with four French pairs in the main draw — a number that reflects how significantly the domestic game has grown. None of them had a comfortable draw.

In the morning, Lea Godallier / Daiara Valenzuela met Ana Cristina Sánchez / Marisol Fernández, while compatriots Marie-Amélie Dardaine / Clara Mansart faced the experienced Spanish-Argentine pairing of Ainize Santamaría / Sara Foguer.

The afternoon brought the most-watched women's match of the day: Alix Collombon and Ksenia Sharifova — France's highest-ranked women's pair on the CUPRA FIP Tour — squared off against Lorena Alonso / Lucía Dionisio. A win for Collombon would send a clear message heading into the Race's decisive stretch. On the adjacent court, Raluca Sandu / Eva Marcus played Ivet Val López / Louise Bahurel in the fourth women's first-round fixture of the session.

What Comes Next

Thursday brings the full Round of 16 as all four top-seeded pairs on both sides of the draw enter the competition. Quarterfinals are pencilled in for Friday, with the women's semifinal on Saturday morning before the men's semifinal follows. Both finals are scheduled for Sunday at the Palais des Sports de Gerland, with the women's match beginning at 14:30 and the men's final at 16:30.

Live streaming is available free on the FIP's official YouTube channel throughout the week. Results and updated draws are published in real time on padelfip.com.