Antoine Nicoli: a record of 171 padel tournaments in one year!

At 38 years, Antoine Nicoli, licensed at Tennis Club of the Chestnut Grove in Rueil-Malmaison, has forged a unpublished record : that of the greatest number of padel tournaments played in 12 months. By 171 competitions played, this old ranked 30 in tennis and professional restaurateur has won everyone over despite the fierce competition as Lahcen Seghiri with 148 tournaments or Jean-Sébastien Willem (Le Chantilly Club) with 154 tournaments.

Antoine thus chained on average more than three tournaments per week !

A passion born by chance

“I got into padel by chance and I loved the sport. I was on a professional break and I found myself hooked on padel. I played every day. Why 171 tournaments? Because instead of playing games against friends or strangers, I preferred to play in tournaments and be sure to play at least three games a day.”

Continuous progress

“I think I'm playing better, yes, gradually. You have to know that I don't come from tennis, so I didn't have a hand to begin with. I struggled at the beginning, then I decided to take short lessons once a week to improve my technique.”

Objectives revised downwards

Back to professional life, Antoine Nicoli must slow down his hectic pace. “My goal, having returned to work, is to reduce padel a little. But when I say reduce, it means going from five tournaments to two or three per week.”

A measured ambition

Despite everything, he retains a certain ambition: “The goal would be to reach the top 1000 before summer. But I only play with people of my level or slightly stronger. I'm not the type to go looking for partners ranked 50 or 100 French just to win tournaments."

Antoine Nicoli is also the P100 champion, with 20 wins in this category. One thing is certain: his tournament record could well remain unmatched for a long time!

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovered padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since then, padel has been part of his life. You often see him touring France to cover major French padel events.