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The world number one from Catamarca — his Nox AT10, inverted forehand, and what recreational players can learn from El Pollito.
Tapia began playing padel at nine years old in Catamarca, a city in northwest Argentina more associated with mountain landscapes than padel courts. His early talent was obvious: he moved to Buenos Aires as a teenager to access better training infrastructure and quickly attracted attention on the national junior circuit.
His professional breakthrough came on the World Padel Tour, where he partnered with several Argentine players before finding his stride. In 2020 he became the youngest player to win a WPT Final Master, announcing himself as a generational talent. The 2022 season accelerated his trajectory when he began playing alongside Arturo Coello, a pairing that would prove transformative for both men.
By 2023 the Tapia-Coello pair had climbed to the world number one ranking, making Tapia the youngest player in history to claim the top spot. They retained it through 2024 and 2025, winning 13 tournaments in 2025 alone. Entering 2026, Tapia holds 55 career titles — the most of any active player — and shows no sign of stepping back from the top. He plays the left side of the court and is consistently ranked the world's best left-side player.
Tapia plays left side, a position that typically demands control, tactical patience, and strong defensive retrieval. He brings all of that — but overlays it with an explosive attacking game that no predecessor at left side has matched.
His defining technical signature is the inverted forehand: standing on the left side, he strikes the ball with his forehand across his body rather than using the conventional backhand. This produces angles and speeds that right-side opponents cannot read from their normal positioning. It is among the most technically demanding shots in professional padel, and Tapia executes it under full match pressure as a primary weapon.
His athleticism is exceptional even by professional standards. Tapia covers ground with a sprinting quality that enables recovery from seemingly impossible positions. His overhead smash combines height, timing, and disguise — the x3 trick shot (a midair direction-switch that deceives opponents into committing to the wrong side) has become a signature YouTube moment that illustrates his spatial awareness.
Defensively he is patient under pressure but invariably looks to transition to attack within two or three exchanges. His volley game at the net is precise and quick, making the Tapia-Coello pair one of the most feared net teams on the circuit.
Tapia plays with the Nox AT10, his signature racket developed in collaboration with Spanish brand Nox. The AT10 uses an 18K carbon weave — a finer fibre that produces a more responsive, springier feel compared to the stiffer 3K weave used in some power rackets. The teardrop shape positions the sweet spot in the upper-middle of the face, giving him the power needed for overhead attacks while retaining the touch and precision his net game demands.
The AT10's moderate head-heavy balance suits his style: enough momentum on smashes and aggressive volleys, light enough to redirect quickly during fast exchanges at the net. Nox produces limited-run versions of the AT10 for retail, making it genuinely available to club players who want to emulate his setup.
Amateurs should note one important caveat: Tapia's inverted forehand technique is built on thousands of training hours and exceptional natural coordination. Buying the AT10 racket will not produce his signature shots — and attempting the inverted forehand without professional coaching is likely to cause elbow strain. The appropriate lesson from his racket choice is that teardrop shapes work at the highest level and that 18K carbon offers genuine responsiveness for advanced players who make clean contact consistently.
Tapia cycled through several partnerships on his route to the top. His early professional career saw him paired with compatriot Federico Quiles, with whom he developed his professional fundamentals. He later played alongside Sanyo Gutiérrez, one of Argentina's elite left-side players, gaining experience against the highest level of competition.
The decisive pairing came when he began competing with Arturo Coello in 2022. Coello, a tall Spaniard with an enormous smash and strong net presence, complemented Tapia's athletic baseline-to-net game perfectly. Their chemistry was evident immediately — they reached the top ranking in their first full season together in 2023 and have been inseparable since. As of May 2026 they remain the FIP's top-ranked pair with 20,670 points, having defended their number-one status through multiple title defences across the 2025 and 2026 seasons.
Three shots define Tapia's game and are worth tracking specifically when watching his matches.
The inverted forehand cross-court is his primary offensive weapon from the left side. Rather than the conventional left-side backhand, he winds up with a forehand grip and drives through the ball toward the opposing right corner. The trajectory and speed are different from anything opponents have prepared for, and the angle opens up space that conventional left-side play cannot create.
The x3 aerial redirect is the shot most associated with him publicly. During a smash or overhead, he appears to commit to one direction before redirecting mid-motion — producing a shot that opponents begin to move for only to find the ball going the other way. The technique is partly physical (exceptional shoulder rotation and wrist snap) and partly deceptive (delayed hip opening that misdirects opponents).
His bandeja down the line is a third weapon worth noting. Where most players use the bandeja as a safe rally-continuation tool, Tapia hits it with enough pace and depth to genuinely test opponents' glass returns. The combination of the inverted forehand and this bandeja variant makes him unpredictable from any position on the left.
You cannot copy the inverted forehand — and should not try without coached instruction. But three principles from Tapia's game transfer directly to club level.
First: transition to the net with intention. Tapia never drifts to the net; he attacks it as a decision after creating a short ball. At club level, players often arrive at the net because they have followed the ball rather than chosen the moment. Watch when he moves forward and notice that it follows a deep, wide ball — recreate that pattern.
Second: vary your bandeja more than feels natural. Most club players treat the bandeja as one standard shot. Tapia adjusts pace, height, and direction based on court position. Even adding two versions — a deep slow one and a flatter faster one — immediately creates more problems for opponents.
Third: athletic recovery is a skill that can be trained. Tapia's positional recovery after defensive situations is exceptional, but it is built on footwork habits. Work on split-step timing before each opponent contact — this single habit will improve your defensive position substantially without any technical change to your shots.
At 26, Tapia is in the middle of what may be an extraordinary sustained peak. The combination of his physical gifts, technical originality, and mental consistency has produced a playing profile that no one has replicated. His partnership with Coello has the structure of a long-term dominant pair — both players are in their mid-twenties with room to develop further. The competitive threat most likely to disrupt their dominance is the improving second pair on the Spanish and Argentine circuits, but as of mid-2026 that disruption has not materialised consistently enough to challenge the ranking.
Watch Tapia for: the inverted forehand angle, the x3 redirect, and his decision-making on when to move to the net. These are the three elements most instructive for improving club players.Get SmashIQ to analyse your racket technique
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