CUPRA FIP Tour story, all the players who made the circuit great

Who will be the winners of the CUPRA FIP Finals in Bourg en Bresse? Today, with the entry of the seeded players for the round of 16, the tournament enters into its decisive phases, with Sunday’s finals electing the last champions of the International Padel Federation circuit. In the meantime, the FIP Research & Data Analysis Department released some data on the CUPRA FIP Tour, which since its inception in 2019 has seen 994 players win, more than 75 per cent of them from Europe. At the level of nations, Spain is the country with the most winners, 496, followed by Argentina with 120 and Italy with 93. In the ranking of multiple winners in the men’s tournaments, there are five players with eight titles: these include Spaniards Gonzalo Rubio and Jairo Bautista, Italians Giulio Graziotti and Flavio Abbate (winners of five stages in 2024) and Frenchman Jeremy Scatena. Among the women, with seven victories, is Spanish Nati Lopez Diaz (six wins in 2024), while among the eight players with six victories is 2008 class Raquel Eugenio.

THE YOUNGEST But 2024 was also the year of the youngest player to have won a CUPRA FIP Tour trophy: the Spaniard Aaron Garcia, born in 2009, who lifted the trophy this year in the FIP Promotion of La Nucia, followed by 2008 Facundo Dehnike (Paraguay), winner of the FIP Promotion of Castellon and Francisco Cabeza, Spanish born in 2007, winner of the FIP Rise of Hamburg and the FIP Promotion of Almeria. Among the women, in addition to the Raquel Eugenio, the youngest players to have won a CUPRA FIP Tour tournament were Francesca Ana Floriani (winner of FIP Rise Tenerife), Martina Calvo (who triumphed in FIP Rise Burriana and FIP Promotion Betsson 3) and Kaori Peco (with three wins in FIP Rise Tenerife, FIP Promotion Houten III and FIP Promotion Castellon de la Plana), all of them born in 2008. Among the older players is Mexican Fabian Mujica (FIP Rise Houston 2021, 49 years and three months); among the female players is compatriot Aranzazu Gallardo (FIP Rise Estado de Mexico 2022, 48 years and 11 months).

THE STARS Five world number 1s have won tournaments on the CUPRA FIP Tour. Current number 1 Arturo Coello won the FIP Star in Cagliari in September 2020 and the FIP Gold in Stockholm in 2021. Juan Martin Diaz, on the other hand, won the CUPRA FIP Finals in Cagliari in December 2020 at the age of 45. Among women, Carolina Navarro at the age of 48 and a half won the FIP Rise Utrecht 2024; Lucia Sainz (number 1 in 2020) lifted the trophy in two FIP Platinum, Sardegna 2023 (paired with the other former number 1 Patty Llaguno) and Mexico 2024. But there are many top players, many of them still at the top of the FIP ranking, who have passed through the CUPRA FIP Tour: among the others, Fede Chingotto, Mike Yanguas, Mati Diaz, Miguel Lamperti, Claudia Jensen, Sofia Araujo, Tamara Icardo, Jessica Castelló and former tennis player Roberta Vinci. Who will be the next stars?