DC Matrix and San Diego Stingrays win Pro Padel League opener in New York

DC Matrix and San Diego Stingrays left Hammerstein Ballroom with the first trophies of the Pro Padel League season, and their New York wins gave the 2026 title race an immediate shape. Over four days in Manhattan, the league’s opener delivered men’s and women’s champions, a packed showcase and a blunt reminder that the teams able to close tight matches will move ahead fast.

San Diego Stingrays took the women’s final from Florida Goats, 6-1, 3-6, 10-7, while DC Matrix edged a men’s final that featured Álex Ruiz, 6-4, 4-6, 10-8. DC Matrix were represented by Iñigo Jofre and Álex Arroyo, a pairing that handled the deciding moments better than the field around them. In a league built on team identity rather than isolated tour results, those last-set tiebreaks mattered as much as the silverware itself.

The opener gathered all 10 PPL teams and more than 50 elite men’s and women’s players, a scale the league described as its most expansive and competitive season to date. That depth was visible in the field, which also included standouts such as Alejandro Ruiz, Leonel “Tolito” Aguirre, Sofia Araujo and Claudia Jensen. New York was the first stop on a five-event North American calendar that also runs through Los Angeles, Playa del Carmen, Guadalajara and Miami, where the Dec. 3-6 finale will crown the men’s, women’s and overall champions.

The Manhattan setting carried its own message. New York has become a recurring marquee stage for the circuit, after New York Atlantics were crowned overall champions there at the end of 2025, and the league paired the opening week with a Harlem community clinic to push the sport beyond the ballroom floor. That blend of competition and outreach fits a league that wants to look larger than a startup showcase.

Mike Dorfman called the New York opener “an incredible moment” for the league, while Diane Gotua said the ambition is to build a “premier global sports and entertainment property.” The business push around that ambition is already visible, with Fever now the official ticketing platform in a multi-year partnership, USA Sports set to carry national broadcast coverage, and the league saying it has raised $25 million in less than 18 months, including a $15 million Series A led by Rick Schnall. For DC Matrix and San Diego Stingrays, the opening statement was simple: the chase has already begun, and they wrote the first line.