A Roland-Garros,
We are not going to go so far as to say that it is a fashion, because motivations vary depending on the person, but, in recent years, it is not uncommon to see acquaintances completely change their professional path: a journalist who becomes a shepherd here, a manager who ends up a carpenter there, a doctor who switches to a sign language translator in the back right… The examples are numerous. We can add one more: tennis players who develop a passion for padel.
There is obviously a more drastic reconversion than going from a string racket to another full one, from an open court to another marked out by windows, but this change, gently, has allowed a plethora of athletes to find the right fit and realize their dream of becoming a professional athlete, like Alix Collombon. The French No. 1 at padel had already had a small career in tennis, even with a first round in doubles at Roland-Garros, where the Paris Padel Major is being played this week, with Chloé Paquet in 2013.
“We can make a hole more easily”
Having climbed to 420th place in the ATP, the Frenchwoman nevertheless decided to put away the anti-vibrators the following year, at the age of 21, for various reasons. Before discovering, by chance with friends, padel in 2015. And, like a Lamine Yamal de la pala, Collombon’s rise was meteoric, reaching the point of joining the world top 30 a few years later.
« I would say that among girls, getting into the top 100, 80, if you really play all the tournaments, it’s done relatively “well”, she explains to us. It depends a lot on the players, but I think that in a year and a half, two years, it can largely be done. I was lucky enough to go a little faster than that, but it’s also a question of success. »
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So, with an evolution as rapid as it is successful for a player who discovered the discipline late in life, a question burns on our lips: is the padel intended to bring together all those who have not managed to break through? in tennis? “Yes, it is a reality that there are fewer players at padel and that people who have not made it in tennis can make their mark here more easily,” assures the Spaniard Alejandra Salazar, 13th in the world, who been bottle-fed at padel and did not go through the tennis box. With the skills acquired in tennis, if you train well at padel, the change is easier than the opposite to join the circuit. »
Thomas Leygue, French No. 1, is one of these defectors from tennis to padel. He made the switch after injuries and the feeling that he was having more fun on a colored court: “It was a personal decision, more than the fact that I felt that I could not break into tennis, because I I was among the best in France, when I was young. There was a series of injuries, and the fact that I was missing something, I almost preferred playing doubles tennis to singles. »
“The frustrated tennis players”
So, we see you coming. Wait a bit, even if you dabble a little with the yellow ball and, due to a misunderstanding, you manage to make a magnificent counter-drop on a break point and you string together Grand Slams on Top Spindo not immediately resign while being sure of being able to succeed at padel. The road still remains quite steep. Dylan Guichard, 122nd in the world and No. 2 in France, says:
« Two or three years ago, I saw a lot of comments from people who said that it was the frustrated with tennis, those who did not succeed in this sport, who were taking up padel. What is true is that it is easier to reach the high level in padel than in tennis. At the top, I don’t know, but it’s true that we get to the top 200 more easily, because for the moment, there are fewer players and obviously, the competition is lower. But it still remains very complicated. »
He also played tennis and was even champion of Brittany in 2016, before switching to padel in 2018, “but not out of frustration or because of not being good at tennis”. Especially since padel, with its smaller court, its different racket, its windows which surround the track remains a sport, although accessible and fun, which has its specificities. “People who fall back saying “I didn’t succeed in tennis”, a little frustrated, they have difficulty moving on to padel, because you have to remove the basics of tennis to learn the basics of padel, and that’s complicated, explains Leygue. We have the impression that it’s a sport that is very similar, it helps a lot with reflexes, centering the ball, but if you’re not ready to change mentally by saying “it’s another sport , I have to adapt to how we play”, even though we come from tennis, it won’t change anything. »
Hard to live with it if you’re not at a very high level
And if you haven’t managed to win any prize money at the Bormes-les-Mimosas tennis tournament, don’t expect to be able to win the Paris Padel Major and its check for 525,000 euros with your fingers in your nose. Ask Maxime Joris (206th in the world), eliminated in the first round at Roland-Garros on Monday, who had a good level of tennis before joining the cage: “We are surviving for the moment, we are in the phase by which we are obliged to pass. Today, I’m losing money, but I don’t see any harm in doing that, because for me, it’s a sacrifice that I have to make. And tomorrow, if I succeed, I will be able to say that I have put all the chances on my side. »
Better ranked, Dylan Guichard will, for the first time, not “lose money, but not win any either”, while a full season costs him between 60,000 and 70,000 euros, including his accommodation at Madrid. “But it’s still very good, in three years, to manage to have blank years,” assures the Breton.
“I was 400th at the WTA and it was hard. Life on the circuit, when you are 400th, is not easy at all, and even when you are better classified, adds Alix Collombon. Today, at padel, I would say that among the girls, the top 15-20 are doing well. When you are not Spanish or Argentine, which are the vast majority in the ranking, I think that from the top 60, when you are French, Italian or Portuguese, you have a few more sponsors, because you has more visibility, with a status of No. 1 or 2 in our respective countries. » All that remains is to reach this level.
