Chingalan conquer Rome: "Focus and lightness, that’s how we won"

Work, concentration, and a pinch of lightness—after all, padel is a game. Fede Chingotto and Ale Galan celebrated on the magical night that brought them the title at the BNL Italy Major Premier Padel, nearly a year after their last final won against Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia. A night that dispelled the ghosts of many decisive losses from the past year and restored confidence to the world’s number two pair.

"The truth is we stopped overthinking. In the end, it’s just a padel match,” said Galan in the post-match press conference. “We really wanted to win, we studied our opponents a lot and had many alternatives and solutions—probably too many. The key was our confidence: once we stopped constantly thinking about what to do, we managed to convert points at key moments”.

Chingotto highlighted the team’s support and the mutual trust during crucial phases: “I made a really nice point at the beginning of the second set, running outside the court, but I did it because my partner went the extra mile and put me in the position to do it. I have to thank the whole team, our coach, the M3 Padel Academy, and a special mention to Gabi Reca (Argentina’s national coach), who is like a father to me. We’ve worked hard for this win, so the emotion is huge”.

Today’s success brings confidence, but Galan denied the pair ever considered giving up: “We never saw ourselves as finished. We knew that if we kept working and playing, opportunities would come. Arturo and Agus made a big leap in quality, and that must be acknowledged. It’s not that we played worse—they simply got better. That pushes us to exceed our limits every day, and we do the same for them. Overall, we’ve been very consistent, we’ve played many finals. We had already beaten them, so we knew it was possible. But winning a Major here in Rome is truly special”. As for their performance: “I don’t know if this is our best tournament as a pair, but yes, we’re playing at a high level, and it’s great to see the result on court. But we must keep improving,” Galan concluded.