September 10, 2026
Aimar Goñi's 42.8-point masterclass headlines a round where the underdogs bit back and fantasy rosters got reshuffled in Paris
The Round of 16 at the Paris Major 2026 delivered exactly what you want from a Major at this stage — a handful of comfortable marches from the big names, one genuinely tense three-setter, and a couple of results that had fantasy managers either pumping their fists or staring at their screens in disbelief. Aimar Goñi was the standout performer of the entire round across both draws, banking 42.8 fantasy points in a straight-sets dismantling of Yanguas and Nieto alongside partner Edu Alonso. On the women's side, Marina Guinart was almost as electric, posting 38.8 FP in a double-bagel-adjacent 6-0 6-2 destruction that left Sofia Saiz and Lucia Sainz with nowhere to hide.
Let's start at the top of the men's draw, because Tapia and Coello did exactly what you'd expect from the world's best pair — they showed up, switched on, and dispatched Alex Ruiz and Javier Garcia 6-4 6-3 without breaking a sweat. Both men pocketed 14.7 FP each, which is solid for a two-set win but modest compared to what was happening elsewhere on the draw. That's the price you pay for backing elite favourites: the system accounts for the fact that Tapia and Coello are expected to win these matches, so the ceiling is lower. Still in, still dangerous.
The headline men's result, though, was the Edu Alonso and Aimar Goñi show. These two rolled over Yanguas and Nieto 4-6 3-6 — wait, actually the other way around — and finished with a combined 79.6 FP between them. Goñi's 42.8 was the single best score of the round from any player in either draw, edging out his own partner. The match was comfortable, but the scoreline was convincing enough to generate solid game-score bonuses, and both players' ranking multipliers above 1.0 did the rest. More on exactly how that math worked in a moment.
Elsewhere in the men's draw, the three-set thriller everyone needed came courtesy of Leo Augsburger and Juan Lebron, who had to dig deep against Javier Barahona and Maxi Sanchez Blasco. The first set went to the underdogs 6-4, a tiebreak in the second set eventually went against Barahona and Sanchez Blasco 7-6(6), and then Augsburger and Lebron closed it out 6-4 in the third. Neither pair is going home celebrating a fantasy windfall — Lebron's 11.9 FP and Augsburger's 10.5 barely clear the bar — but they're alive, and in a tournament where Stupaczuk and Sanz also came through 7-5 6-3 over Leygue and Moya, the quarter-finals are shaping up to be a real test of depth.
| # | Player | FP |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aimar Goñi | 42.8 |
| 2 | Edu Alonso | 36.8 |
| 3 | Lucas Campagnolo | 26.5 |
The women's draw had a theme this round: if you were on the wrong side of a net against Guinart, Alonso de Villa, Orsi, or Salazar, you were going home with some very unhappy fantasy scores. Marina Guinart's 6-0 6-2 against Sofia Saiz Vallejo and Lucia Sainz Pelegri was the most dominant scoreline of the day in either bracket — 38.8 FP for Guinart, 30.0 for Alejandra Alonso de Villa, and a collective -36.7 FP for the losing pair. That's a bloodbath on the fantasy sheet.
The Alejandra Salazar and Aranzazu Osoro Ulrich partnership made a statement too. They dispatched Beatriz Caldera and Carmen Goenaga 6-1 6-4, and Osoro Ulrich's 34.7 FP and Salazar's 32.9 FP made them the second and third-best individual scores in the entire women's round. These two are playing with real confidence in Paris, and any fantasy manager who slept on them is feeling it now. Meanwhile, Carolina Orsi (34.2 FP) and Patricia Llaguno Zielinski (28.8 FP) made equally short work of Kurz and Ortiz Gasco — 6-1 6-1, barely a contest.
The one result that broke the clean-sweep narrative was Veronica Virseda and Martina Fassio Goyeneche pushing Claudia Fernandez Sanchez and Martina Calvo Santamaria to a tight first-set tiebreak before eventually losing 7-6(3) 6-1. Calvo Santamaria's 28.3 FP was the reward for closing out that opener under pressure — she and Fernandez Sanchez are through, and they'll be confident. Paula Josemaria and Beatriz Gonzalez were the other women's pair to impress, putting Montes and Barrera away 6-1 6-0 in what was effectively a non-match. Combined 52.6 FP for the winners. Cold.
| # | Player | FP |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marina Guinart | 38.8 |
| 2 | Aranzazu Osoro Ulrich | 34.7 |
| 3 | Carolina Orsi | 34.2 |
| 4 | Alejandra Salazar Bengoechea | 32.9 |
| 5 | Alejandra Alonso De Villa | 30.0 |
The pattern that jumps out immediately from this round is how much better the lower-ranked players delivered on fantasy value relative to cost. Aimar Goñi at 42.8 FP, Edu Alonso at 36.8, Marina Guinart at 38.8, and Aranzazu Osoro Ulrich at 34.7 — none of these are your 190+ credit mega-picks. They're the players where the ranking multiplier kicks in above 1.0, rewarding you for backing someone the model didn't fully expect to dominate. Tapia and Coello each pulled 14.7 FP. Galan and Chingotto each pulled 19.3. Good scores, but not spectacular — because elite players are expected to do exactly that, and the difficulty coefficient on their matches reflected easy opponents.
The biggest losers? Anyone who went heavy on Yanguas, Nieto, Saiz, Sainz, Montes, or Barrera. These weren't close losses — they were capitulations, and the 40% base retention rule is merciless when you factor in negative game scores on top of it. Yanguas finished on -8.8, Nieto on -10.0, and Sainz on a brutal -21.1. If you had any of those names in your lineup expecting a surprise, the Paris courts did not cooperate.
Let's break down how Aimar Goñi hit 42.8 FP — because it's a perfect illustration of how the fantasy system actually rewards smart picking. You start with the Round of 16 base of 10 points. Win the match, and that jumps to 14 (the +4 win bonus applied). From there, the game score added 7.8 — reflecting a convincing enough scoreline against Yanguas and Nieto. Layer on a stats bonus of 4 points for solid serve and return numbers, and you're sitting at a subtotal of 25.8. Then the ranking multiplier comes in at 1.05 — Goñi isn't ranked at the very top of the tour, so the system gives him a small bump above 1.0 for outperforming his expected level. That pushes it to 27.1. The real kicker? The difficulty coefficient of 1.58. Beating a pair that was seeded above them relative to Goñi's ranking inflated the final score significantly: 27.1 × 1.58 = 42.8 FP. That's the system working as intended — punching up pays.
Compare that to Marina Guinart's 38.8 FP on the women's side, and you see a completely different route to a similar destination. Guinart's game score was enormous — 22.1 points, the highest of anyone in the round, driven by that 6-0 6-2 bagel-adjacent scoreline. Her stats bonus was also strong at 8 points, putting her subtotal at 44.1. But here's where it gets interesting: her ranking multiplier sits at exactly 1.0 (she's right at the tier where expected output meets cost), and the difficulty coefficient actually scaled her down to 0.88 — she beat a weaker pair, so the system deflates the final score. Even with all that raw dominance, 44.1 × 0.88 = 38.8 FP. The lesson? Goñi scored nearly as many points with a less dominant scoreline purely because he was beating upward. Picking underdogs who upset stronger pairs isn't just exciting — it's the fastest route to the top of the leaderboard.
💰 Martina Calvo Santamaria is your value queen — at 115.5 credits (the cheapest among advancing women), she's posting a 0.68 FP/credit value ratio, the best of any women's player still in. She's ranked #9, which means her multiplier is above 1.0, and she's shown she can handle pressure after that tight first-set tiebreak. Back her.
⚡ Beatriz Gonzalez Fernandez is criminally underpriced at 141.7 credits for a #4-ranked player averaging 90.6 FP per tournament. Her 0.64 FP/credit value is the second-best in the women's draw. She and Josemaria just 6-1 6-0'd someone — the momentum is real.
⚠️ Think twice before loading up on Tapia, Coello, Galan, or Chingotto for the quarter-finals. Yes, they're elite. Yes, they'll probably win. But their ranking multipliers are below 1.0 and they're priced at 190+ credits — you need them to absolutely demolish their opponents to justify that spend. Juan Lebron at 136.7 credits (0.65 FP/credit value, #5 ranked) gives you nearly as much upside at a fraction of the cost.
🎯 On the men's side, keep an eye on Francisco Guerrero (#12, 115.2 credits, 0.37 FP/credit average value) — the value ratio looks low, but he's a lower-ranked player with a multiplier above 1.0, meaning if he and Leal cause a quarter-final shock, the difficulty coefficient could make that score explode in the same way Goñi's did this round.
🔥 Goñi & Alonso Light It Up: The men's fantasy story of the round belongs entirely to Edu Alonso and Aimar Goñi — a combined 79.6 FP from a pair who aren't anywhere near the top of the seedings. A lesson in why you don't fill your roster with only marquee names.
🎾 Augsburger/Lebron Survive the Scare: The only men's three-setter went the distance and Lebron's side eventually prevailed, but their fantasy haul (11.9 and 10.5 FP respectively) shows how a scrappy win against a similarly-ranked pair can leave your score feeling underwhelming.
💥 Women's Wipeouts on Both Ends: The women's draw produced some of the most lopsided scores of the entire tournament — three different matches ended 6-0 or 6-1 in the first set, and the losing sides collectively haemorrhaged over 80 negative fantasy points across the round.
📊 Tournament Leaderboard Tightens: Tim leads Alpha Mika by just 0.3 points (402.3 vs 402.0) heading into the quarter-finals — it is razor thin at the top, and one wrong pick could flip the standings completely.
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tim | 402.3 |
| 2 | Alpha Mika | 402 |
| 3 | MaravillaKids | 388.9 |
| 4 | DavidCereCat | 376.2 |
| 5 | ZeGalan | 365.9 |
1. Don't chase last round's big scores — Guinart's 22.1 game-score bonus came from a 6-0 6-2. Those scorelines don't repeat easily in quarter-finals against tougher opponents.
2. Spread budget across two mid-tier picks rather than one mega-star — this round proved again that combined upside from multiplier-boosted players outpaces a single expensive favourite.
3. Check the difficulty coefficient before confirming picks — a lower-ranked player facing a top-3 seed could triple their base score with a win, while a favourite beating another favourite barely moves the needle.
The Paris Major quarter-finals are locked in — get your picks in before the deadline and ride the value wave into the final weekend.