Coello and Tapia’s “fifteenth”: “We always struggle against Coki and Mike, but we’re at our best for the final”

In the last “lap” of the first men’s semifinal at the FIP World Cup Pairs, you could clearly see why Coello and Tapiaare Coello and Tapia — the undisputed rulers of the court and the season. They didn’t play their best padel. Or rather, Tapia didn’t play his best padel, while Mike Yanguas and Coki Nieto, number 4 seeds, kept up the level that got them to this semifinal. At the end of the second set — the first had finished 6-4 for the world number ones — during the tie-break, with a 5-2 lead, Mike and Coki were already picturing a third set.

TAPIA ON THE RISE But then, a less precise Tapia than usual switched back into “Mozart mode” to lead a comeback of five straight points: from 2-5 to 7-5 in the tie-break, sealing the win — helped by a flawless Coello, both in defense and attack. A bit earlier, there had been the “VAR of destiny,” maybe the clear sign of how things were going to end. Tapia and Coello had gone up 3-1, then got broken back, and at 5-5, Mike and Coki earned a break point. Tapia placed the ball very close to the grid — it looked out — but the VAR challenge by the number ones showed it was in. Game tied, two more points from Coello for 6-5, then the tie-break and the Mozart crescendo ending. In the end, arms in the air and yet another big win in a crazy season, with their fifteenth final reached and ten titles to their name.

PRESSURE After the match, Tapia said: “We know they’re the number 4 pair in the world, and that’s enough to understand how strong they are. I’ve never had an easy match against them, and on a slow court they’re even tougher — Mike covers so much space and Coki runs for every ball. We know that if we’re not at 100%, we can lose.” Coello, meanwhile, spoke about the chance of Chingotto and Galán taking over the number 1 FIP ranking: “Yeah, the pressure is there, obviously. We could lose the number one spot — it’s possible. At the start of the season, it probably affected us more because everyone saw us as ‘the number ones,’ but before anything else, we’re Agustín and Arturo. If we lose that top spot, we’re still us.” On how much this World Cup meant to them, Coello was very clear: “One of the reasons we didn’t go to Egypt was to arrive well prepared for this World Cup. I think we did it — we feel great, physically too. The court is very demanding, it ‘eats your legs,’ but we’re in the perfect shape to face a tournament like this.”