Ariana "Ari" Sanchez Fallada is a Spanish professional padel player, born 1997 in Reus. She was world No. 1 in 2023 and 2024 with Paula Josemaria. For 2026 she switched from Head (7 years) to Adidas and partnered with 2007-born Andrea Ustero. She plays on the right (backhand) side and is known as "Magic Ari" for her precision and tactical intelligence.
Who is Ari Sanchez
Ariana Sanchez Fallada, known universally as Ari, was born in 1997 in Reus, Catalonia. She made her World Padel Tour debut in 2016 and spent the late 2010s building a solid professional career before her breakthrough partnership with Paula Josemaria transformed her status.
Between 2021 and 2025, Ari and Paula won seven combined titles and became the most successful female pairing in padel history by title count. They finished 2023 and 2024 as world number one, and defined women's padel for multiple seasons. Ari is known as the tactical brain of the partnership - setting up points with precision, reading opponents, managing moments. Paula was the dynamite; Ari was the architect.
The 2026 reset: new partner, new brand
The end of 2025 brought the biggest change of Ari's career. After five years partnering Paula Josemaria, the pair separated. Ari announced her new partnership would be with Andrea Ustero - a Spanish talent born in 2007 (18 years old), widely tipped for superstardom, who already had two Premier Padel titles before turning 19.
Then in February 2026, Ari announced her departure from Head after seven seasons together. A week later she confirmed Adidas as her new sponsor - a strong strategic move for both sides, given Adidas' growing push in women's padel and Ari's profile on tour.
The Sanchez-Ustero partnership made an immediate statement. In their very first tournament together - the Riyadh P1 in February 2026 - they won the title, beating world No. 1s Delfi Brea and Gemma Triay in the final 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. "We didn't expect to beat the world No. 1s, but we worked incredibly hard with our team", Ustero said afterwards. Ari's only comment: "I'm speechless".
Playing style: precision and reading the game
Ari is a right-side (backhand) specialist in a game where the right side is typically the more tactical position. Her game is built on three elements:
Shot placement over power
Ari does not hit the hardest ball on the women's tour - she hits the best-placed ball. Her ability to find the exact corner, the exact depth, the exact angle that opponents cannot return cleanly is what separates her. She is a surgical player in a sport that often rewards slugging.
Tactical intelligence
The "Magic" nickname comes from watching her construct points. She reads opponents several shots ahead, varies her patterns to avoid predictability, and has an unusual ability to change tempo mid-rally. Her game is a good model for club players who cannot rely on raw power.
Defensive resilience
On the backhand side, Ari handles wall rebounds, defensive lobs and tough positions with composure. She rarely gives points away on defensive shots - a foundational skill that supports everything else in her game.
Ari's racket: 2026 Adidas prototype
For the 2025 season, Ari played the Head Speed Motion 2025 Ari Sanchez - a teardrop-shaped signature racket in the Head Speed collection, designed with her input for versatility (not pure power). The racket had a slightly longer handle for leverage and held the sweet spot slightly higher than typical teardrops.
For 2026, with her move to Adidas, the racket situation is in transition. At the Hexagon Cup in early 2026 she was spotted playing with a completely black prototype - no logos, no branding - while still finalising her new Adidas agreement. At the time of writing (April 2026) Adidas has not yet released a dedicated "Ari Sanchez" signature racket, but given her profile and importance to the brand, a signature model is likely in development.
Until then, Ari is playing a customised version of an existing Adidas racket in the Metalbone family. For players who want to mirror her profile, the Adidas Metalbone Carbon or Adidas Cross It collections offer teardrop options suited to Ari's placement-focused, right-side backhand style.
Career record
- World No. 1 in 2023 and 2024 (with Paula Josemaria)
- Career titles: 54+ trophies
- Most successful female pairing in padel history (with Josemaria)
- Riyadh P1 2026 champion (first tournament with Ustero)
- Current partnership: Andrea Ustero, seeded No. 3 in early 2026
- Current sponsor: Adidas (from February 2026)
Ari is 28 as of April 2026 - in her peak years for padel. The combination of Ustero's youth (18) and Ari's experience makes the new partnership a genuine threat to the Triay-Brea dominance and the incoming Josemaria-Gonzalez pair. Women's padel in 2026 is genuinely three-way competitive for the first time in years.
What club players can learn from Ari
Placement wins more points than power
Ari has built a hall-of-fame career without hitting the ball harder than most pros. She wins by putting the ball where opponents cannot return it well. At club level, practising placement (hitting to corners, feet, awkward angles) transfers immediately. Hitting harder usually creates errors.
Master your backhand side
Ari plays right side - the backhand-heavy position. Her backhand is a weapon, not a weakness. Many club players treat their backhand as the side to hide from. See our backhand guide for how to build it up.
Pick a racket that suits your actual game
Ari plays a teardrop, not a diamond, because teardrops suit placement-focused play. A lot of intermediate players buy diamond rackets because "the pros use them" - but the pros who use them are power specialists. If you are more of a placement player, a teardrop will suit you better. See our teardrop guide.