Ale Galán wins the first Finnish Open in history

Ale Galan's first title of the year 2023 is a special one. The player from Madrid achieved it at an event that was his first on the World Padel Tour and that has brought professional padel to a new country: Finland. Galan and his partner, Juan Lebron, won a very demanding tournament by claiming a 6-0, 7-6 victory in the final against a pair playing their first ever final, the one formed by Jon Sanz and Coki Nieto.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by World Padel Tour (@worldpadeltour)

A tough road for Galán

The Finnish tournament proved to be a tough challenge for our adidas player. The road to the final was hard. The proof is that Galan and Lebron had to win all four matches to reach the final in the third and final set. Pairs like Momo Gonzalez and Sanyo Gutierrez, in the quarter finals, or our adidas player Alex Ruiz and Juan Tello, in the semifinals, made things very difficult for them.

But the truth is that Ale and Lebron approached all the matches with character. As we said, of course, always in the third set. But we already know that Ale moves on the edge of the abyss like few others.

An exciting final

The match was a rollercoaster of emotions. Their opponents, Jon Sanz and Coki Nieto, reached their first final as a pairing and proved their merits with grit and commitment. Galan and Lebron started the match with their experience in these scenarios.

The first set was dominated from start to finish by Ale and Juan. They imposed their game and outplayed Coki and Jon in every aspect. The result was a 6-0 win in the first set.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by World Padel Tour (@worldpadeltour)

The second set started in the same way. The break in the second game by Galan and Lebron and a 3-0 lead in the first set made some people think that the final was already sealed. Without warning, Jon Sanz and Coki Nieto woke up. They did it with a spectacular reaction. They took four games in one go and took a break lead in the second set.

With the second set turned around, Galan and Lebron got back to work. In a well-worked game, they cut off their opponents' attack and managed to counter-attack to level the set again. With the set already in the decisive stretch, there was little room for error.

At 5-5, Galan and Lebron's serve got complicated and ended up falling on their opponents' side. That opened the door to a new third set for our adidas player and his partner in Finland. But the gap was closed with a counterbreak. The tie-break was a rollercoaster within the rollercoaster of the second set. Both pairings had the chance to take the set on their serve, but it ended up going Galán's way.

The joy in the final celebration shows how hard they have suffered the victory in this Finnish Open. It also speaks of the liberation of winning the first title of the year after all the hard work, after four finals in which luck hadn't smiled on them. Well done Ale, may it be the first of many!