Who are the best padel players in the world

Since a couple of decades, the most iconic padel player is the Argentine Fernando Belasteguin, 43, still at the top despite his age. The Pehuajo-born legend remained at the top of the world ranking for 16 years in a row, winning dozens and dozens of tournaments, partnering the countryman Juan Martin Diaz and then the Brazilian Pablo Lima. Since 2021, Belasteguin has been playing with the Spaniard Arturo Coello, twenty-three (!) years younger than him.

Currently, Alejandro Galan and Juan Lebron form the top-ranked padel couple in the world. The Spaniards, born in 1996 and 1995 respectively, started to play together in 2020 and are now considered the hardest duo to beat. They’ve won many titles together, including the most recent World Championship playing for their national team.

They rely on power, strength and explosive energy. Their style contributed to rapidly change the way of playing padel, that used to be slower with crafty rallies in the past. Since their appearance at the top of the game, padel became increasingly faster with much shorter points, especially at professional level.

The former World No.1 Francisco 'Paquito' Navarro from Spain partnering the Argentine Martin Di Nenno began to play as a team in 2021. Soon they became a threat for Galan and Lebron in the FIP rankings. They also won the first Major of the new Premier Padel Tour played at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex in Doha (Qatar) beating Galan e Lebron in the final.

Among active players, beside Belasteguin, Lima, Galan, Lebron and Navarro, also the Argentines Maxi Sanchez and Sanyo Gutierrez reached the top of the FIP rankings. Theyr countrymen Juan Tello and Federico Chingotto, who started their career as a couple in 2014, are the longest-tenured top-team today.

Before the Belasteguin-Diaz era, two icons from Argentina led the padel movement in the Nineties: the five-times world champions Roby Gattiker and Alejandro Lasaigues, ranked No.1 for five years.