Galan and Chingotto stay together in 2027: a new team, an injured hand and a dream with Tapia

Galan confirms he will keep playing with Chingotto in 2027 and build a new team. Finger injury, Jorge Martinez steps back, and his No. 1 dream.

For weeks the question had followed Galan from tournament to tournament: would he and Chingotto survive a season that slipped away after the summer? On the eve of the Dubai P1, the answer arrived in an interview with Marca. Galan and Chingotto will keep playing together in 2027, with a new team around them.

The news lands while Galan is on the sidelines. He is out of the Dubai P1 with a finger injury, and he is about to become a father. What he says about his future is the first clear signal about how the Galan and Chingotto project will be rebuilt.

A new team, and a mentor stepping back

The rumours of a split grew from poor results since the summer, with the Paris Major as the turning point. Galan answered them with a joke and a plan: “Chingalán sigue junto en 2027”, he told Marca, and then added that “estamos preparando un equipo nuevo para ir a por ello en 2027”.

The change has a name. Jorge Martinez, Galan's long-time mentor, is leaving the elite sidelines and will no longer travel with the pair on the circuit, according to Galan. The player did not detail who joins the new staff. He defended the project with a short sentence: “Tengo fe en lo que somos capaces de hacer.”

The pair has still not reached world number one, which explains the urgency, and Coello and Tapia have just secured the year-end top spot for a fourth consecutive season.

The finger that cost him the end of the season

Galan was hurt in the round of 16 in Milan, when the frame of his racket struck a finger on a jump recovery. The diagnosis is damaged ligament tissue in the fourth finger of his right hand, with the tendon displaced. Poor blood supply slows the healing.

The treatment for now is conservative, but he did not rule out surgery. His right hand is immobilised. He will miss Dubai, which also removes the rematch of the last two finals against Tapia and Coello, and he admitted that a return before the end of 2026 is uncertain: “Ojalá, eso quiero.” His stated target is to be back at 100% for 2027.

One consequence is already visible in the draw. Leal and Guerrero, who had only a wild card for qualifying, now enter the main draw as sixth seeds after the withdrawal of Galan and Chingotto.

The dream: number one on both sides of the court

The most unusual part of the interview is not about 2027 at all. Galan said he would like to be the first player to reach world number one playing on both the backhand and the right side. He has played the right before, in youth events and with Javi Redondo, and has talked about switching sides with Lebron.

The partner he names for that experiment is Tapia, whom he considers the best player today. He was careful to say it is not his current goal: first comes a title with Chingotto.

What to watch from here

Galan also spoke on the day of the World Cup final, picking Spain to win and explaining that he would have used Goñi and Juan in the first match and Coello at number one to close. Spain did take the men's title in Doha.

For Galan the road is now medical and organisational. The hand has to heal, the new team has to be named, and the Finals in Barcelona and the Mexico Major are the last chances of 2026 to see whether the project can still fight for the top. After that, 2027 starts with a promise, a new staff and a long wait.