Le Premier Padel Finals is preparing to close the 2025 season by bringing together, from December 11 to 14 at Palau sant jordi 16 best male and female players of the RaceThe event, equivalent to the historical Master Final, will distribute €600 000 prize money and 1 500 points For the winners, a major challenge awaits as they conclude a year dominated by number 1s:
Arturo Coello / Agustín Tapia in men, and Gemma Triay / Delfi Brea among women, who ended the reign of Ari Sánchez and Paula Josemaría before their separation.

But behind the sporting stakes, a controversy resurfaces: the outfit of the match for 3rd placemaintained for the second consecutive year despite general discontent in the locker room.

A knockout format… with one “extra” match

The Finals are played on a simple bracket:
quarter-finals → semi-finals → final… and match for 3rd place.
This final match, scheduled for the Sunday before the finals, is not universally popular.

Introduced in 2024, the match had provoked irritation among several stars of the circuit, including Juan Lebrón et Martín Di Nennoforced to play this "small final" which they considered pointless.

Di Nenno had been clear:

"I don't think anyone wanted to play this match for third place."

Why are Premier Padel insists?

The organization justifies this continuation by a desire " to offer more matches to the fans "in a premium event."
But from the players' perspective, the perception is quite different:

  • an extra match at the end of the season, while the organisms are exhausted
  • a match without any real sporting stakes
  • a financial reward deemed too small to justify the effort

The figures: is the gap really motivating?

In 2024, the difference between finishing 3rd or 4th was:

  • 200 point
  • €7 500

The 2025 amounts remain identical :

  • 600 points and €13,500 for the 3th grade
  • 400 points and €13,500 for the 4th grade

Significant sums of money... but not enough to convince those who just failed in the semi-final to rally for a match deemed artificial.

A tournament always full of surprises

Despite this controversy, the Finals remain one of the most important tournaments of the year.
Last season, Coki Nieto and Jon Sanz had staged a historic comeback against Coello/Tapia, ending a six-month unbeaten run for the Golden Boys.

The 2025 edition promises to be exciting once again, but it will arrive with this question that continues to divide opinion:
Does the match for 3rd place really have a place in this tournament?

Benjamin Dupouy

I discovered padel directly during a tournament, and frankly, I didn't really like it at first. But the second time, it was love at first sight, and since then, I haven't missed a single match. I'm even ready to stay up until 3am to watch a final of Premier Padel !

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