A fantastic and hard-fought final, with four great players climbing up and down the mountain – never was a metaphor more fitting – over and over again, constantly overturning the idea of a foregone conclusion. No, in Miami, we once again realized that this rivalry is the precious canvas of the Premier Padel season and will be the leitmotif of the year. And not just because both finalist pairs only gave up eight total games in the semifinals, or because neither Ari Sanchez and Paula Josemaria, nor Delfi Brea and Gemma Triay, had dropped a single set in Miami. After all, we’re talking about monumental pairs: Sanchez-Josemaria, playing their 18th final with 12 titles and champions in Riyadh, were world number one in the FIP rankings for the past two seasons and for much of 2022, before being overtaken by Gemma Triay, who was playing with Ale Salazar at the time.
Triay-Brea are a new pairing, true, but Gemma is the only player in the FIP world rankings to have won titles with three different partners – Ortega, Fernández, and Brea – and the ‘rule of three’ holds even for the finals they’ve played this year: three, with two titles won in Gijón and Cancún. And, interestingly, Brea hadn’t reached three consecutive finals since May 2024, meaning her instant connection with Triay has already significantly boosted her competitive trajectory. Between two pairs of this caliber, it was bound to end in a cinematic showdown packed with intense drama.
Sanchez-Josemaria exploded out of the gates, racing to a 4-0 lead, a result of both their strong start and Brea’s shaky beginning, where nerves led to some uncharacteristically simple mistakes. However, with Gemma at full throttle from the start, Delfi slowly found her rhythm, though not enough to prevent a dominant 6-2 first set. Just when it seemed like Josemaria and Sanchez would close it out, their opponents took control, grabbing a 3-1 lead, saving two break points that could have turned the set around, and storming to a stunning 6-1.
At that point, everyone expected a fierce reaction from the world No. 1 pair, and it came in a tight third set—but not enough to flip the outcome. The final turned into pure joy for Gemma Triay and Delfi Brea, securing their third consecutive title of the season, this time at a P1, following their P2 victories in Gijón and Cancún.