Stupaczuk-Sanz Win Belgrade FIP Gold on Their Debut Week

A Debut for the History Books

Seven days was all it took. Franco Stupaczuk and Jon Sanz arrived at the Padel Center Belgrade Waterfront on Monday as a brand-new pairing, with no joint track record and plenty of questions from the circuit about how their styles would mesh. By Sunday evening they were lifting the FIP Gold Belgrade trophy, having defeated the tournament's top seeds in straight sets. The final score was 6-4, 7-5 over Jorge Nieto and Miguel Yanguas — a result that immediately reshapes the conversation heading into the autumn phase of the FIP Tour.

Stupaczuk, ranked seventh in the FIP standings, and Sanz, twelfth, bring substantial individual credentials to any partnership. But padel partnerships typically need time: court positioning, shot selection habits, communication under pressure — all of it needs synchronisation. Belgrade suggested their chemistry is ahead of schedule. In the semi-final they had already navigated a nervy 7-6, 7-5 win over Pablo Lijo and Francisco Manuel Gil, a match that tested their composure at exactly the moments that separate good weeks from great ones.

Top Seeds Under Pressure

Nieto and Yanguas, seeded first and ranked eighth and tenth respectively, had moved through the draw with authority. Their semi-final demolition of Alejandro Ruiz and Javier García — 6-3, 6-1 — had looked like the performance of a pair firing on all cylinders. The two Spaniards had played together during the 2025 season, and their reunion at Belgrade appeared well-timed ahead of the circuit's most prestigious remaining events.

Sunday's final told a different story. Stupaczuk and Sanz controlled the baseline exchanges from the opening games, found consistent angles in both directions, and broke when the set demanded it to close out the first 6-4. The second set was tighter — Nieto and Yanguas pushed and had chances — but the new partners sealed it 7-5. For a pair competing together for the first time under tournament pressure, the composure was striking.

Women's Final: Rufo and Iglesias Overturn the Form Book

The women's draw produced its own drama on Sunday. Lorena Rufo and Victoria Iglesias, seeded second, defeated top seeds Alejandra Salazar and Aranzazu Osoro in three sets, according to the official draw tracker. After conceding the opening set, Rufo and Iglesias took control in the second and third to complete a 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 comeback. For the pair, it is their most significant result of the season and a meaningful points haul ahead of the ranking crunch in September.

The result carries an added emotional dimension for Salazar, who is competing in the Comunidad de Madrid Premier Padel P1 — which begins its main draw on Tuesday — as the final tournament of her professional career. Salazar's retirement ceremony is scheduled for 6 September at the Movistar Arena. She and Osoro had been the strongest pair in Belgrade's women's draw through the semi-finals, but the final went to the pair who were hungrier on the day.

Madrid Is Next

Both Belgrade finalists carry their form — and their baggage — straight into the Madrid P1. The Premier Padel main draw begins tomorrow, Tuesday 1 September, at the Movistar Arena, with €479,068 in prize money and 1,000 FIP ranking points on offer to the champions. Nieto and Yanguas will want to respond; Stupaczuk and Sanz arrive with the momentum of a title and the belief that their debut week was no fluke. Women's qualifying round two closes out today at Club Pro Padel Coslada, filling the last four spots in the 28-pair main draw before the week's main action gets under way.