The Circuit

The lead note

Spain beat Spain for the women's gold medal at the Mediterranean Games. Lucia Sainz and Patty Llaguno took it from Jimena Velasco and Nuria Rodriguez, 6-3, 6-4, and the two pairs carried the gold and the silver home between them. Italy's Carolina Orsi and Giorgia Marchetti beat Portugal's Ana Catarina Nogueira and Sofia Araujo 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 for the bronze.

The mixed gold went to Portugal. Sofia and Pedro Araujo, sister and brother, beat Italy's Giulia Dal Pozzo and Marco Cassetta 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 on Central Court. France's Louise Bahurel and Dylan Guichard took the bronze from Greece's Pavlos-Louis Balafas and Christina Styliani Ntanou.

Spain took the men's title as well. David Gala and Jose Antonio Diestro beat Italy's Flavio Abbate and Alvaro Montiel 7-6, 6-4 on a sold-out Central Court, with Abbate and Montiel saving two set points in the first-set tie-break. Italy's Cassetta and Simone Iacovino beat Portugal's Miguel and Nuno Deus for the bronze.

Two of the three bronze medal matches are reported here without a score. We have not been able to establish one we can print from the releases we have read, and we have not asked FIP.

Sofia Araujo leaves Taranto with the mixed gold and the women's bronze. Marco Cassetta leaves with the mixed silver and the men's bronze.

Sainz, afterwards: "We are very happy. Winning this medal with Patty is a great satisfaction." Diestro, after the men's final: "As well as being happy to have won, playing with a friend like David is an added value." Cassetta, on the bronze: "This is the most beautiful victory of my life."

This week in the game

The Cupra FIP Tour finished in four places over the weekend.

At the FIP Gold in Belgrade, Lorena Rufo and Victoria Iglesias, the second seeds, beat Ale Salazar and Aranzazu Osoro 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Franco Stupaczuk and Jon Sanz beat Coki Nieto and Mike Yanguas 6-3, 7-5. Each winning pair took 150 FIP Ranking points.

At the FIP Silver in Westerbork, in the Netherlands, Britain's Aimee Gibson reached the final with Eugenia Guimet and lost it to Marta Caparros and Agueda Perez, 6-3, 6-4. It was Caparros's second Cupra FIP Tour title of the year and Perez's first, in their first tournament back together as a pair.

At the FIP Silver in McAllen, Texas, Brittany Dubins and Camila Ramme beat the top seeds Carla Fernandez and Nerea Guerra 6-4, 6-3. Seven days earlier the same pair had lost the FIP Gold final at San Luis, which we reported last week. Tolito Aguirre and Antonio Fernandez won the men's title from Vinny Di Francesco Calderon and Ivo Andenmatten Gudino, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

At the FIP Bronze in Madrid, Amanda Lopez and Camila Fassio beat Aida Martinez and Ana Dominguez 6-2, 6-0. Javi Collantes and Asier Martinez beat Jesus Moya and Thomas Leygue 7-5, 6-4. It was the pair's first circuit title, and Collantes's first final on the Cupra FIP Tour.

Three of those pairs go more or less straight into the Comunidad de Madrid P1. Stupaczuk and Sanz are seeded four in the men's draw, Nieto and Yanguas five, and Salazar and Osoro eight in the women's.

The week ahead

The Comunidad de Madrid P1 is carrying two sets of dates. FIP's event page runs it from 29 August to 6 September. The tournament's own site says: "El Comunidad de Madrid Premier Padel P1 by Oysho regresa del 1 al 6 de septiembre al Movistar Arena." The difference between them is qualifying, which was played at Club Pro Padel Coslada from Saturday to Monday. The main draw opens on Tuesday 1 September at the Movistar Arena and runs to Sunday 6 September, with the final at 16:00. The men's main draw is 48 pairs and the women's 28. A FIP Silver at Cordoba runs to 6 September.

The FIP Senior World Cup is played in Buenos Aires from 14 to 19 September, and LTA Padel named its men's and women's squads for it on 28 August, captained by Libby Fletcher. Europe qualifies for the FIP World Cup in Madrid from 22 to 26 September, and Padel Federation Ireland named its team for that qualifier on the same day.

The World Cup itself is played in Doha from 2 to 7 November, 32 national teams, 16 in each event. Spain won both golds at Taranto. In Doha they defend the women's world title and Argentina the men's, so the question the autumn sets up is whether Spain take both again or Argentina keep the one they hold.

The LTA Padel National Championships return to Rocket Padel in Bristol from 1 to 4 October, with a prize fund of £10,400 and free admission for spectators. Entries close on Monday 21 September.

From the club

Issue Two has been live since 3 August. Episode Two of The Sessions, with Jethro Binns of Padel Levels, went up on 11 August. Issue Three publishes on Monday 7 September.

See you at the club.

How this was compiled. The Mediterranean Games results are from the International Padel Federation's own releases: the women's final · the mixed final · the men's final · the bronze medals. The week's tour finals are from FIP's reports on Belgrade · Westerbork · McAllen · Madrid. The Comunidad de Madrid P1 draw sizes, dates and seedings are from FIP's event page, the tournament's own site and its preview of 28 August. The British and Irish items are from LTA Padel · Aimee Gibson's player profile · the National Championships · Padel Federation Ireland. All read on 31 August 2026.