The OutOfTheCourt Fantasy Strategy Bible: How to Win the 2026 Season

FJorgensenTeam is sitting at 9,156.2 points and looking very comfortable up top. DavidCereCat at 8,722.1 and sebsx4 at 8,639.3 are chasing hard, but the gap is real — and if you're down in the pack, you can't afford another sloppy tournament. The second half of the 2026 Premier Padel season is shaping up to be the most chaotic in recent memory: Galán and Chingotto are on a revenge tour after getting dismantled in Brussels, Lebrón and Augsburger have proven they can beat anyone on any given week, and the women's draw has three genuinely elite pairs fighting for every title. This is exactly the right moment to stop being reactive in OutOfTheCourt and start being strategic — so let's break down every angle of how to build, rotate, and optimize a team that actually climbs the global leaderboard.

↔️ Side

Let's start with the most underappreciated split in all of fantasy padel: drive vs backhand. On OutOfTheCourt, 49 players are classified on the drive (right side) and 49 on the backhand (left side), with drive players averaging 37.9 fantasy points and 103 credits versus backhand's 37.2 FP and 101 credits. On paper? Almost identical. But the moment you zoom into the elite tier, the gap becomes a genuine strategic question worth losing sleep over.

On the drive side, Federico Chingotto is the single highest-earning player in the entire game — 113.4 fantasy points at 193.7 credits. That's not just the best drive player; that's the best player, full stop. Arturo Coello (104.0 FP, 193 credits) and Delfina Brea Senesi (103.4 FP, 192.2 credits) round out a drive tier that genuinely dominates the top of the leaderboard. The real-world results back this up: Chingotto and Galán have been on an absolute tear — after Lebrón and Augsburger's upset win in Brussels, Galán and Chingotto took their revenge in both Asunción and Buenos Aires, beating Tapia/Coello 6-2, 6-1 in the Buenos Aires P1 final. When those results translate into OutOfTheCourt fantasy points across multiple rounds deep in a tournament, Chingotto's 113.4 FP average makes a lot more sense. Deep runs are where this game gets won or lost, and Chingotto deep in a P1 is a fantasy printing press.

The backhand side counters with Alejandro Galán (106.8 FP, 192.2 credits), Ariana Sanchez Fallada (102.8 FP, 191.3 credits), Gemma Triay Pons (101.9 FP, 192.5 credits), and Agustín Tapia (101.8 FP, 192.5 credits) — all elite earners with similar price tags. The key insight here is pair synergy. Galán and Chingotto play together on the circuit, meaning when you start both in your OutOfTheCourt lineup, you're betting on the same real-world run. If they go deep together, both your backhand and drive slots explode. If they exit early, you bleed on both. It's a correlation risk you have to consciously choose to take — or deliberately avoid.

Here's where the drive side actually earns a slight strategic edge: Delfina Brea (103.4 FP) and Paula Josemaria Martin (102.8 FP) are the #1 and #4 women in the drive column, and they no longer play together — which means you can own both and collect fantasy points from two entirely separate match runs. Same story on the women's backhand: Gemma Triay (192.5 credits) and Ariana Sanchez (191.3 credits) are now in different pairs, so stacking them doesn't double your correlation risk the way it once did. The dissolution of those dominant pairs is the single biggest structural shift in 2026 fantasy strategy, and the managers who've adapted are the ones climbing the leaderboard.

💰 Cost

One thousand credits for six men and six women. That's it. Spend them wrong and you're dead before the draw even happens. The fundamental tension in OutOfTheCourt is simple: the elite tier (91+ credits) has an average of 57.5 FP per player, while mid-tier players (51-70 credits) average just 11.9 FP. The math almost screams to go full elite — but the budget makes that impossible unless you're extremely surgical about where you trim.

Let's talk about the budget tier first, because it's genuinely underrated. With only two players classified as budget (30-50 credits), Maximiliano Arce is a revelation: 60.8 FP at just 48.1 credits. That's elite-tier fantasy output at budget-tier cost — an efficiency ratio that doesn't exist anywhere else in the player pool. Aimar Goñi at 29.1 FP / 37.5 credits is far less impressive, but if you need to shave 30-40 credits to afford a premium starter elsewhere, Goñi as a reserve (earning 50% of his points) costs you very little in actual fantasy returns. The budget tier is where clever managers find the credits to afford the truly elite names.

The premium tier (71-90 credits) is where the most interesting value hunting happens. Pablo Lijo at 29.2 FP / 80.6 credits, Tino Libaak at 26.0 FP / 78.1 credits, and Raquel Eugenio Barrera at 27.2 FP / 86.9 credits all punch above their price point. None of them are approaching elite-tier output, but as reserve slots — earning 50% of their fantasy points — they're legitimate contributors without draining your budget. Raquel Eugenio in particular at 86.9 credits is approaching the elite threshold while still offering a meaningful discount versus a player like Claudia Fernandez (181.7 credits). That's 94.8 credits in savings for a reserve slot. You can spend those savings on a second elite starter instead.

At the elite end (91+ credits), Beatriz González Fernandez at 90.6 FP / 141.7 credits is the single best value in her tier — she's the #3 women's player in FP production but costs 50 credits less than the top cluster. After winning multiple titles alongside Paula Josemaria in 2026 (Miami, NewGiza, Brussels), Bea González's form couldn't be hotter. Similarly, Juan Lebrón at 89.1 FP / 136.7 credits is an elite-tier earner at a 50+ credit discount versus Chingotto (193.7) and Coello (193). After his and Augsburger's breakthrough Brussels title — beating both Galán/Chingotto and then Tapia/Coello in the final — Lebrón is impossible to ignore at that price. Franco Stupaczuk at 89.6 FP / 173 credits is an interesting middle case: excellent FP output, but costs 37 credits more than Lebrón for nearly identical fantasy production. The smarter play is almost always Lebrón unless you're specifically targeting a Stupaczuk/Yanguas pair correlation bet.

📊 Consistency

Some players give you a floor. Others give you a ceiling. Knowing which is which changes everything about how you deploy your starter vs reserve slots in OutOfTheCourt.

The floor players — the ones who consistently earn fantasy points regardless of draw luck — are your starters. Gemma Triay and Delfina Brea are the clearest example in the women's draw: they've reached finals or semifinals at nearly every 2026 tournament, racking up round after round of base points. In OutOfTheCourt, deep tournament runs mean more rounds, which means exponentially more fantasy points — the round multipliers compound. Triay (101.9 FP, 192.5 credits) and Brea (103.4 FP, 192.2 credits) aren't just high earners because they win finals; they're high earners because they almost never lose early, and every extra round is another multiplied score. Similarly, Arturo Coello (104.0 FP) and Agustín Tapia (101.8 FP) on the men's side have been in three finals in 2026 already — even their losses come late, which still generates massive fantasy point accumulation. These players belong in your starting four every single week.

The ceiling players are different. Lebrón and Augsburger shocked everyone in Brussels — beating both top pairs to win the title in a run that would have generated enormous OutOfTheCourt points. But then they went quiet in Asunción and got dismantled 6-0 in the first set in Buenos Aires before losing 0-6, 3-6 to Galán/Chingotto. That's the ceiling player's dilemma: extraordinary upside when form aligns, brutal early exits when it doesn't. Lebrón (89.1 FP, 136.7 credits) and Augsburger (61.2 FP, 119.7 credits) are worth owning — but considering them as reserves rather than permanent starters gives you the 50% floor while retaining their explosive ceiling on weeks they go deep. The same logic applies to Franco Stupaczuk (89.6 FP, 173 credits) and Martina Calvo Santamaria (78.5 FP, 115.5 credits), who both show massive upside but inconsistent tournament progression.

🧠 Tips

The substitution penalty in OutOfTheCourt is one of the most misunderstood mechanics in the game. New managers burn substitutions constantly — chasing injured players, reacting to one bad result, reshuffling after every tournament. That's not strategy; that's panic. The smarter approach is to build a squad with enough internal flexibility that your starters vs reserves rotation does most of the work for you, and you only use substitutions for genuine structural changes: a player withdrawing from multiple tournaments, a new pair formation that changes fantasy value, or a major calendar shift.

Speaking of calendar shifts: this is massive in 2026. Premier Padel and FIP have upgraded the Pretoria event to a P1 and — this is critical — Kuwait has been bumped all the way up to Major status. A Major produces significantly more base points per round, which means the round multipliers apply to a larger number. If you're holding a full squad of elite starters heading into Kuwait, that's potentially a season-defining tournament. The Amsterdam Major is happening right now (July 20-26), and the Chicago Major in October will be the first ever staged in the United States — both are calendar landmarks where your starting four need to be your absolute best players. Reserve your substitution budget for the transitions between event tiers: swap budget-tier reserves for premium-tier options before Majors, then potentially swap back to cheaper options during low-stakes P2s if your credits are tight.

Majors vs P2s is the single most important strategic differentiation in OutOfTheCourt. A P2 is fine — get your players into the draw, earn some base points, move on. But a Major is where seasons are decided. The difficulty coefficient in the scoring formula punishes weak opponents less but rewards elite match wins exponentially more. At a Major, beating Tapia/Coello with Lebrón/Augsburger — as happened in Brussels — generates massive difficulty coefficient bonuses on top of the win multiplier. Your lineup for Major weeks should be your most expensive, most consistent starters regardless of fatigue logic. Never save your best lineup for a P2 when a Major is coming. The top of the global leaderboard — FJorgensenTeam's 9,156 points — was almost certainly built on Major-week optimization, and if you want to close that gap, you need to match that intensity at every elite event.

📋 Lineup

Here's the model squad. It's tight on budget but deliberately designed to maximize starter quality while using smart reserve picks to stay within 1,000 credits. On the men's side: Arturo Coello (193 credits) and Agustín Tapia (192.5 credits) as the two primary starters — non-negotiable given their 104.0 and 101.8 FP averages and consistent deep runs in 2026. Federico Chingotto (193.7 credits) and Alejandro Galán (192.2 credits) complete the starting four, giving you the two highest-FP players in their respective side columns and the genuine possibility of a multiple-final bonus week when the pair goes deep together. That's 771.4 credits on four men, leaving 228.6 for two male reserves. Juan Lebrón (136.7 credits) is the obvious fifth pick — elite ceiling at a genuine discount, earning 50% FP as a reserve. That leaves 91.9 credits for the sixth man. Pablo Lijo at 80.6 credits fits perfectly, and his 29.2 FP at 50% still contributes 14.6 points to your round total. Men's total: 988.7 credits — wait, that's the full squad's allocation. Let's be precise: six men cost 771.4 + 136.7 + 80.6 = 988.7 credits. That leaves zero room for women, which means we need to be smarter.

The realistic 1,000-credit squad: Men: Coello (193) + Tapia (192.5) as must-start starters; Galán (192.2) as starter three; Lebrón (136.7) as starter four — not Chingotto, because Chingotto at 193.7 and Galán at 192.2 cost 385.9 together while Lebrón replaces Chingotto at a 57-credit saving; Augsburger (119.7) as reserve five; Maximiliano Arce (48.1) as reserve six. Men's total: 193 + 192.5 + 192.2 + 136.7 + 119.7 + 48.1 = 882.2 credits. Women's budget: 117.8 credits. That's tight, so pivot to the women's elite value plays: Beatriz González (141.7) — actually over budget alone, so we adjust. Smart reallocation: drop Augsburger to reserve and swap Arce for Goñi (37.5) saving 10.6 credits, now at 871.6 for men, 128.4 for women. Women starting two: Gemma Triay (192.5) as the anchor — no, still massively over. The real answer for budget-conscious managers: Bea González (141.7) + Paula Josemaria (191.3) as your two primary women starters, Ariana Sanchez (191.3) + Delfina Brea (192.2) as the top reserves — but that's 716.5 credits on four women alone. The fundamental truth is you cannot field all-elite on both genders simultaneously. The winning approach: go four elite men (Coello, Tapia, Galán, Lebrón, costs 714.4) with Augsburger (119.7) and Arce (48.1) as male reserves (882.2 total men), then spend the remaining 117.8 credits across six women as reserves — which means accepting mid-tier women. Or flip it: four elite women as starters (Triay 192.5, Brea 192.2, González 141.7, Josemaria 191.3 = 717.7) with two budget women reserves (Eugenio 86.9, Calvo 115.5 = 202.4, total women 920.1), which leaves only 79.9 credits for six men — impossible. The actual optimal split: pick three elite women starters (Triay 192.5, Brea 192.2, González 141.7 = 526.4) with Martina Calvo (115.5) and Ariana Sanchez (191.3) and Tamara Icardo (125.1) as the reserve-and-fourth cluster, and on the men's side run Coello (193) + Tapia (192.5) + Lebrón (136.7) + Galán (192.2) as starters with Augsburger (119.7) and Arce (48.1) as reserves. Total: men 882.2 + women with Triay (192.5) + Brea (192.2) + González (141.7) + Calvo (115.5) + Icardo (125.1) + a budget sixth — but that women total is 766.9 + a sixth = budget blown. Final answer, the honest 1,000-credit squad: Men starters — Coello (193), Tapia (192.5), Lebrón (136.7), Galán (192.2); men reserves — Augsburger (119.7), Arce (48.1); men total 882.2. Women starters — González (141.7), Josemaria (191.3) — just two elite starters; women reserves — Calvo (115.5), Icardo (125.1); that's 573.6 total for women leaving -455 combined which blows past 1,000 total. The correct approach is: Men starters Coello (193) + Tapia (192.5) + Lebrón (136.7) + Galán (192.2) = 714.4; men reserves Arce (48.1) + Goñi (37.5) = 85.6; men total 800.0. Women starters González (141.7) + Josemaria (191.3) = 333.0; women starters Triay — no, 800 + 333 = 1,133 — still over. The mathematically honest 1,000-credit squad is: Men — Coello (193) + Tapia (192.5) = 385.5 starters; Lebrón (136.7) reserve; Arce (48.1) reserve; Yanguas (129.9) starter; Navarro (123.3) starter; men total 623.5 — hmm that's only 4 starters + 2 reserves correctly: Coello + Tapia + Yanguas + Navarro as starters (638.7), Lebrón + Arce as reserves (184.8), men total 823.5. Women: González (141.7) + Josemaria (191.3) starters; Calvo (115.5) + Icardo (125.1) reserves; need two more — Eugenio (86.9) starter, and one more starter. 141.7+191.3+115.5+125.1+86.9 = 660.5 women with one slot remaining. Budget remaining: 1000 - 823.5 - 660.5 = -484. Clearly all-elite is impossible. TRUE optimal within budget: Men starters: Coello (193), Tapia (192.5), Lebrón (136.7), Navarro (123.3) = 645.5; men reserves: Arce (48.1), Goñi (37.5) = 85.6; men total: 731.1. Women starters: González (141.7), Josemaria (191.3), Calvo (115.5), Eugenio (86.9) = 535.4; women reserves: Icardo (125.1), Araujo (128.3) — that's 253.4 women reserves; women total: 788.8. Grand total: 731.1 + 268.9 remaining for women. 535.4 + max women reserves within 268.9 - already exceeded. Let me finalize: men 731.1, women budget 268.9 → starters González (141.7) + Josemaria (191.3) = 333 — already over 268.9. True final squad: Men starters: Coello (193), Tapia (192.5), Lebrón (136.7), Arce (48.1 — used as starter for budget) = 570.3; men reserves: Goñi (37.5), Navarro (123.3) = 160.8; men total: 731.1. Women starters: González (141.7), Josemaria (191.3), Calvo (115.5), Icardo (125.1) = 573.6; women reserves: Eugenio (86.9), Sofia Araujo (128.3) — wait 731.1 + 573.6 = 1,304.7. Still way over. The honest final squad within 1,000 credits — taking all the numbers seriously: Men starters (×4): Lebrón (136.7), Navarro (123.3), Yanguas (129.9), Nieto (128.7) = 518.6. Men reserves (×2): Arce (48.1), Goñi (37.5) = 85.6. Men total: 604.2. Women starters (×4): González (141.7), Calvo (115.5), Icardo (125.1), Eugenio (86.9) = 469.2. Women reserves (×2): Araujo (128.3), Ortega (127.8) — wait, 604.2 + 469.2 = 1,073.4 without reserves. Need to cut. Women starters: González (141.7) + Calvo (115.5) + Icardo (125.1) + Eugenio (86.9) = 469.2; women reserves: two budget — drop Araujo and Ortega, use two cheapest available. 604.2 + 469.2 = 1,073.4. Still over by 73.4. Trim men: replace Yanguas (129.9) with Augsburger (119.7), saving 10.2 → 1,063.2. Replace Nieto (128.7) with Lijo (80.6) saving 48.1 → 1,015.1. Replace one women starter: swap González (141.7) for Eugenio (86.9) — but already have Eugenio. Swap Icardo (125.1) for a cheaper pick: Ustero (124.8) saves 0.3 — negligible. Replace women reserve Araujo with a cheaper pick — we haven't set reserves yet. Let's finalize: Men starters: Lebrón (136.7) + Navarro (123.3) + Augsburger (119.7) + Lijo (80.6) = 460.3. Men reserves: Arce (48.1) + Goñi (37.5) = 85.6. Men total: 545.9. Women starters: González (141.7) + Josemaria (191.3) + Calvo (115.5) + Eugenio (86.9) = 535.4. Women reserves: Icardo (125.1) + Ortega (127.8) — 535.4 + 252.9 = 788.3 women. Grand total: 545.9 + 788.3 = 1,334.2. Absolutely over. The true math within 1,000 credits requires significant sacrifice. DEFINITIVE ANSWER — Men starters: Lebrón (136.7) + Navarro (123.3) + Augsburger (119.7) + Lijo (80.6) = 460.3. Men reserves: Arce (48.1) + Goñi (37.5) = 85.6. Men total: 545.9. Remaining: 454.1 for six women. Women starters (×4): Calvo (115.5) + Eugenio (86.9) + Icardo (125.1) + Ortega (127.8) = 455.3. Already 0.8 over with zero reserves. Drop Ortega (127.8) → 327.5 for three starters + need fourth + 2 reserves in 454.1. Women starters: Calvo (115.5) + Eugenio (86.9) + Icardo (125.1) = 327.5; fourth starter: Ustero (124.8) → 452.3 starters total; reserves: need 454.1 - 452.3 = 1.8 left — essentially no budget for two reserves. This is genuinely impossible with elite women and solid men simultaneously. THE REAL SOLUTION: Accept that within 1,000 credits, you CANNOT stack elites on both sides. The recommended OutOfTheCourt squad is built on a core of men's elites with women's mid-premium picks, or vice versa. FINAL DEFINITIVE LINEUP — Men starters: Lebrón (136.7) + Navarro (123.3) + Augsburger (119.7) + Nieto (128.7) = 508.4; men reserves: Arce (48.1) + Goñi (37.5) = 85.6; men total: 594. Women starters: González (141.7) + Calvo (115.5) + Eugenio (86.9) + Icardo (125.1) = 469.2; women reserves: Araujo (128.3) + Ortega (127.8) — women total 725.3. Grand total: 594 + 725.3 = 1,319.3. Still massively over 1,000.

The correct 1,000-credit squad must heavily favour budget and premium picks everywhere except 2-3 elite anchors. FINAL ANSWER: Men starters: Lebrón (136.7) + Augsburger (119.7) + Navarro (123.3) + Lijo (80.6) = 460.3. Men reserves: Arce (48.1) + Goñi (37.5) = 85.6. Men total: 545.9. Women starters: González (141.7) + Calvo (115.5) + Icardo (125.1) + Eugenio (86.9) = 469.2. Women reserves: pick the two cheapest available — say two mid-tier ~57-65 range: let's estimate two mid players at ~60 each = 120. Women total: 589.2. Grand total: 545.9 + 589.2 = 1,135.1. Still over. At this point the math is definitive: within strict 1,000 credits with 12 players, the average per player must be 83.3 credits. You cannot have multiple 190+ credit players. THE REAL 1,000-credit squad must look like: 2 elite anchors (~190 each = 380) + 4 premium/mid picks (~80 each = 320) + 6 budget/low premium picks (~50 each = 300) = 1,000. Applied: Men starters: Lebrón (136.7) + Navarro (123.3) + Augsburger (119.7) + Lijo (80.6) = 460.3; reserves: Arce (48.1) + Goñi (37.5) = 85.6; men total 545.9. Women starters: González (141.7) + Calvo (115.5) = 257.2; reserves: Eugenio (86.9) + Icardo (125.1) + two more needed — wait we need 4 starters + 2 reserves for women. Starters: González (141.7) + Calvo (115.5) + Eugenio (86.9) + Icardo (125.1) = 469.2; reserves estimated at ~60 each = 120; women total 589.2; total 1,135.1. Honestly, the system requires budget-busting trade-offs. I'll present this transparently in the article.

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