October 8, 2026
The veterans ran the show in Germany, but a handful of upsets kept fantasy managers sweating
Düsseldorf delivered the goods in the Round of 16, with most of the big names doing exactly what they were supposed to — and a few lower-ranked pairs making sure it wasn't a completely smooth ride. Maxi Sanchez Blasco was the undisputed star of the day, topping the fantasy charts with a jaw-dropping 50 FP haul alongside Sanyo Gutierrez as the pair dismantled Alvaro Montiel Caruso and Daniel Santigosa 6-2 6-2. On the other side of the draw, Noa Canovas Paredes and Claudia Jensen were the women's standout performers, combining for nearly 66 FP between them in a confident straight-sets win.
The men's side was largely business as usual at the top, but that doesn't mean there wasn't drama. Tapia and Coello, the world's number one pairing, were surgical against Diestro and Sintes Villalonga — a 6-2 6-3 win that earned both players 18.4 FP each. Efficient, dominant, no fuss. Same story for Stupaczuk and Jon Sanz, who put away Hernandez and Martinez 6-3 6-3 to bank 19.5 FP apiece. Nothing flashy, just elite execution. The most clinical win of the round, though, belonged to Di Nenno and Navarro, who obliterated Pol Hernandez and Manuel Castaño 6-0 6-3. Di Nenno's 32.1 FP and Navarro's 25.3 FP tell you exactly how comprehensive that beating was — Pol Hernandez ended the round on -14.7 FP, which is the kind of number that ends friendships in group fantasy leagues.
For the drama hunters, Galan and Chingotto gave everyone a scare. They dropped the first set 4-6 to Garrido and De Pascual before clawing back to take it in three — 6-4 1-6 5-7 in reverse, ultimately 1-2 on sets before being corrected: the third set ended 7-5 in favour of Galan and Chingotto, making it a 6-4 1-6 7-5 win. Still, both players walked away with just 14.2 FP each — a reminder that three-set escapes don't generate the same fantasy bounty as dominant straight-set performances. Elsewhere, Maximiliano Arce was the hidden gem of the men's draw, posting 30.2 FP after he and Tello beat Geens and Moragues Moltò 7-5 6-3. That's a legitimately impressive haul for a pair not in the upper tier of the rankings.
Gonzalo Alfonso was the other men's overperformer worth flagging — 28.9 FP in a 6-3 6-4 win over Solano Marmolejo and Pereyra. Alfonso's ranking multiplier is doing serious work, rewarding a player who isn't expected to cruise through rounds but keeps doing exactly that. Solano Marmolejo and Pereyra, meanwhile, both finished in the red (-2.3 and -4.4 respectively), ending their Germany run on a sour note.
| # | Player | FP |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maxi Sanchez Blasco | 50.0 |
| 2 | Sanyo Gutierrez | 38.0 |
| 3 | Martin Di Nenno | 32.1 |
| 4 | Maximiliano Arce | 30.2 |
| 5 | Gonzalo Alfonso | 28.9 |
The women's round produced the tournament's most gruelling match by a distance. Osoro Ulrich and Alejandra Salazar had to go the full three sets against Araceli Martinez and Lucia Martinez Gomez — and even then it was tight: 7-5, 6(5)-7, 7-6(4). Three sets, two tiebreaks, and enough tension to make fantasy managers reach for a stress ball. Osoro Ulrich banked 15.7 FP and Salazar 14.6 FP, while even the losing pair came away with positive scores (5.1 and 4.6) thanks to how competitive they were throughout. That's how the system rewards effort — even in defeat, a three-set battle gives you something to show for it.
At the other extreme, Martina Calvo Santamaria and Claudia Fernandez Sanchez were absolutely ruthless. A 6-2 6-0 demolition of Aguilar Carrillo and Escacena Montero is the kind of scoreline that makes the game-score bonus explode — both players earned 26.2 FP each, making them two of the top ten fantasy scorers across both draws this round. Noemi Aguilar Carrillo and Claudia Escacena Montero, by contrast, finished on -13.2 FP each. Brutal. Brea Senesi and Gemma Triay dealt with a tricky opening set tiebreak before pulling away 7-6(2) 6-1, both earning 16.2 FP — solid, reliable, and exactly what you'd expect from the world number ones.
The women's upset watch centred on Ariana Sanchez Fallada and Andrea Ustero Prieto, who needed three sets to get past Velasco Postiguillo and Eugenio Barrera. Ustero Prieto's 19.2 FP actually edged out Sanchez Fallada's 18.0 — interesting that the drive player on the right squeaked ahead on stats bonuses despite it being the same match. Noa Canovas Paredes led the women's scorers with 39.8 FP, comfortably outpacing her partner Claudia Jensen (26.1 FP) — a gap we'll get into in the scoring spotlight.
| # | Player | FP |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Noa Canovas Paredes | 39.8 |
| 2 | Martina Calvo Santamaria | 26.2 |
| 3 | Claudia Fernandez Sanchez | 26.2 |
| 4 | Claudia Jensen | 26.1 |
The overarching theme of this round? Dominant wins print points, and blowout losses are catastrophic for your roster. The four players who finished worst — Pol Hernandez (-14.7), Alvaro Montiel Caruso (-17.2), and their respective partners — all suffered 6-0 or 6-2 drubbings where the game-score penalty compounded the loss deduction and left them deep in negative territory. If you had any of those four in your squad this round, you felt it. On the flip side, Maxi Sanchez Blasco's 50 FP stands alone as the round's marquee score, a number that could single-handedly shift leaderboard positions significantly.
GusTeam now leads the tournament leaderboard at 390.3, pulling clear of OMR (374.8) and Padel CC (371.9) — and given GusTeam also sits third in the season standings at 12,278.3, there's real momentum building there. FJorgensenTeam remains the season leader at 12,722.9, though, and with the draw tightening up into the quarterfinals, every pick from here on carries exponentially more weight. The round base doubles from 10 to 18 at the quarterfinal stage — meaning a dominant QF win could generate nearly triple what a straight-sets R16 win produces.
Let's break down exactly how Maxi Sanchez Blasco hit 50 FP — because it's a masterclass in how everything can go right at once. You start with the Round of 16 base: 10 points. Win the match? That adds 4, taking you to 14. Then the game score bonus kicks in — Maxi and Sanyo won 6-2 6-2, which is a massive margin, and that nets a 15.6-point game score bonus. Add a 9-point stats bonus for aces, break points converted, and dominance on serve, and you're sitting at a subtotal of 38.6. Now the multipliers: Maxi carries a ranking multiplier of 1.2, because he's not ranked in the elite tier, so the system expects less from him and rewards him more generously — 38.6 × 1.2 = 46.3. Finally, the difficulty coefficient of 1.08 reflects that Montiel Caruso and Santigosa weren't a pushover on paper. Multiply 46.3 by 1.08 and you land right on 50. Clean, earned, and well-deserved.
Now compare that to Sanyo Gutierrez in the exact same match — same 14 base, same 15.6 game score, same 9 stats bonus, same 38.6 subtotal. The difference? Sanyo's ranking multiplier is also 1.2, but his difficulty coefficient is only 0.82. Why? Because Sanyo is ranked higher than Maxi, so the system treats his opponents as slightly less of a challenge relative to his expected level. Same match, same result, same raw stats — but Sanyo ends up at 38.0 FP while Maxi hits 50. That's a 12-point gap from one coefficient. It's the single biggest reason why building your squad around underranked-but-consistent players can be more lucrative than loading up on the elite names — the system is designed to make it harder for the favourites to rack up monster scores.
💰 Back Martina Calvo Santamaria (#8, 115.5 credits, 0.68 FP/credit) — she's the best value player left in either draw. A 6-2 6-0 blitz this round, a season avg of 78.5 FP, and she costs less than half what the top seeds do. She's the kind of pick that wins leagues.
📈 Federico Chingotto (#3, 193.7 credits, 0.59 FP/credit) is the best value among the elite men — highest value ratio of the top-ranked players and a season avg of 113.4 FP. If you can afford him, he earns his spot. His partner Galan is slightly cheaper but has a lower value ratio, so Chingotto is the one to prioritise.
🎯 Juan Lebron (#5, 136.7 credits, 0.65 FP/credit) is the standout mid-range men's pick. At 136.7 credits he's nearly 60 credits cheaper than the top seeds but averages 89.1 FP per round — that value ratio of 0.65 is elite. A winning pick heading into the quarterfinals.
⚠️ Think hard before holding Jon Sanz (#10, 122.9 credits, 0.42 FP/credit) — he and Stupaczuk got through comfortably but Sanz's season avg of 52.1 FP and a value ratio of just 0.42 make him one of the weakest value holds left in the men's draw. Stupaczuk (0.52, avg 89.6) is far more justifiable if you want exposure to that pair.
👑 Maxi Sanchez Blasco posts the round's highest score (50 FP) — a perfect storm of dominant scoreline, stats bonus, and favourable multipliers
😬 Pol Hernandez (-14.7 FP) and Alvaro Montiel Caruso (-17.2 FP) suffer the round's worst individual scores — a reminder that blowout losses are a fantasy disaster
🎭 Galan and Chingotto survive a scare against Garrido and De Pascual in three sets — they're through, but the narrow escape cost them valuable fantasy points
⚡ Osoro Ulrich and Salazar's three-set, two-tiebreak epic against the Martinez pair was the match of the round — and even the losers walked away with positive FP scores
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | GusTeam | 390.3 |
| 2 | OMR | 374.8 |
| 3 | Padel CC | 371.9 |
| 4 | Pode Team | 348.4 |
| 5 | sebsx4 | 333.6 |
1. With the round base jumping from 10 to 18 at the quarterfinals, prioritise players who WIN convincingly — a dominant QF win is worth nearly three times a competitive R16 loss
2. Avoid loading up on multiple players from the same high-ranked pair — different difficulty coefficients mean the 'cheaper' player in a partnership almost always scores higher
3. Negative FP scores compound: if a player you own loses badly in the QF, that -15 hurts even more when it's replacing what could've been 30+ points from a cheaper, higher-multiplier pick
The quarterfinals are set — update your squad before the next round locks and make sure you're not leaving points on the table with overpriced picks when the value plays are this obvious.