Tapia and Coello Join Team Dalma After Their Fourth Consecutive Title on the Circuit
The number one pair in the world of padel, Agustín Tapia and Arturo Coello, leads the new Team Dalma
Argentina's Agustín Tapia and Spain's Arturo Coello, the world's number one padel pair, will headline the new Team Dalma from Abu Dhabi, one of the eight teams taking part in the next edition of the Hexagon World Series in the sport, it was announced on Thursday in the capital of the United Arab Emirates during the tournament's presentation.
Tapia, a backhand player born 27 years ago in Catamarca, and Coello, a 'drive' player, 24, a native of Mojados (Valladolid), have just secured — by winning last Sunday's Milan P1 (Italy) and after earlier victories in Paris, Rotterdam (Netherlands) and Düsseldorf (Germany) — their fourth consecutive title, the twelfth of the year and the forty-third since they began competing together four seasons ago, leaving them one step away from closing the year at the top of the world ranking they currently hold.
Both players — who as a pair have a 92 percent win rate — had already taken part in this competition, but never together since its creation in 2024. Tapia was part of the RL9 Team of Polish international footballer Robert Lewandowski, while Coello played for the Puerto Rican Team Bella.
Team Dalma adds Sofia Araujo and Giulia dal Pozzo to its women's duo
Team Dalma, named after an island of the United Arab Emirates — located in the waters of the Persian Gulf, some 42 kilometres off the coast of Abu Dhabi — also announced that Portugal's Sofia Araujo and Italy's Giulia dal Pozzo will form the women's duo in a competition in which pairs of both sexes face each other, in a revolutionary new format, in best-of-five-set matches decided by ten-point 'super tie-breaks', with a decisive fifth set if necessary.
Araujo, born 26 years ago in Lisbon, plays backhand on the left side of the court, while Dal Pozzo, 21 and a native of Borgo Maggiore (San Marino), plays 'drive' on the right side.
The announcement was made, again at the Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental in Abu Dhabi, during the presentation of the next edition of the padel 'Hexagon World Series', which will start next January in Madrid and conclude in October in Abu Dhabi. There will be two more events: in March in North America and in June in Scandinavia, with specific dates and venues to be announced in the coming weeks, according to British co-founder Gary Davidson, who spoke to Efe during the official tournament presentation on Wednesday.
The four events of the 2027 edition will be linked by a season-long overall standings, in which teams will accumulate points based on their results at each event to establish the final classification of the Hexagon Team World Championship.
The winning team of each event will take 25 points; the runner-up will earn 18 and third place 15. Teams finishing between fourth and sixth in each event will score twelve, nine and six points respectively. Seventh place will receive three and eighth will go home empty-handed.
The eight confirmed teams and Tapia and Coello's Kuwait Major debut
The new team presented on Thursday — which will start, on paper, as the big favourite — joins the rest of the confirmed teams: the AD/vantage Padel Team, of former Scottish tennis player Andy Murray and British boxer Anthony Joshua — champion in 2024 and 2026 — as well as the KRÜ Padel by Taktuka — 2025 winner — of 'Kun' Agüero and the Rafa Nadal Academy Team.
The other teams are ElevenEleven Team USA, backed by Mexican-American actress Eva Longoria — who has Spanish ancestry, specifically from Asturias —; the aforementioned Team Bella Puerto Rico of Puerto Rican businessmen María Esteve and Carlos López-Lay; and X Padel — which carries in Roman numerals the number of the single-seater with which Frenchman Pierre Gasly (Alpine) competes in F1, and who will precisely be racing in Abu Dhabi on 6 December in the Grand Prix that closes the Formula One World Championship.
"We left out an announcement yesterday that is very important, which is the formation of a team that will start as the big favourite," said on Thursday in the UAE capital Spain's Enrique Buenaventura, co-founder of the Hexagon World Series.
Tapia, 'the Mozart of Catamarca' — noted for his creativity, exceptional technique and ability to execute extraordinary shots — and 'King' Coello — renowned for his extraordinary power, athleticism and court dominance — will compete next week at the Kuwait Major, one of the four 'majors' of the season alongside Paris, Rome and Acapulco (Mexico). EFE
