Alejandro Galán: Bio, Titles and Playing Style
Alejandro Galán was born on May 15, 1996 in Madrid, and grew up in Leganés, a working-class neighborhood on the city's outskirts, a background he's often credited as shaping the hunger behind his game. He plays the backhand side and is currently ranked among the very top of the FIP rankings.
The nicknames
Galán has picked up a couple of nicknames over his career. "El Alien" is the one that's stuck the most, a nod to how complete his game is: strong in defense, attack, the overhead smash, the volley, and the serve all at once, to the point where opponents facing him across a long three-set match can end up looking like they're up against something not quite human. Playing on his surname, he's also called "El Galántico".
Playing style
Playing from the backhand side, Galán's priority is taking the initiative early in the point, winning the net, and accelerating the rally before his opponents can settle. His most intimidating shot is a flat, direct smash, but what defines his game more broadly is aerial power combined with sharp net-blocking and a read of the game that lets him anticipate even the fastest exchanges on tour. It's an aggressive style, and one that's kept evolving year over year rather than settling into a fixed formula. Galán plays with an Adidas Metalbone, a diamond-shaped racket built for offensive players with a high sweet spot designed around his smash.
Titles and records
Galán has won 24 Premier Padel titles since the tour launched in 2022, and holds a career-best world ranking of number one. He first reached the top spot alongside Juan Lebrón: the pair won 33 trophies together across their four years as partners, spanning the final World Padel Tour seasons and the start of Premier Padel, and Galán finished three separate years, 2020, 2021 and 2022, ranked world number one with Lebrón before the partnership ended in 2024.
Since 2024, he's partnered with Argentine Federico Chingotto. The pair, nicknamed "Chingalán", finished 2024 ranked second behind only Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia, then won seven titles in 2025 and tied Coello-Tapia for the most final appearances of the season with 17. They opened 2026 leading the year's Race rankings after a run of titles that included Pretoria and Buenos Aires, and remain the pairing most able to beat Coello-Tapia with any regularity, though as of August 2026 they haven't yet taken the actual world number one ranking away from them.
For the full story of the Chingalán rivalry with Coello-Tapia, see our history of padel's great pairs, and for everyone else shaping the tour right now, check our guide to the best padel players to follow in 2026.
