Arnaud Di Pasquale, mission director padel within the French tennis federation, was at the microphone of Padel Magazine at the end of the French championships, in Toulouse. He takes stock of the level that is rising, the young people who are growing, the French chances in Dubai... and perhaps the arrival of the word " padel in the name of the federation.

Padel Magazine : We noticed in Toulouse that there were a lot of people to attend the France, maybe more than in tennis. Agree or not?

Arnaud Di Pasquale : Yes, it's true, and I find it super positive. We are happy. We can say that it is a success to see the enthusiasm generated by this sport. The further it goes, the more people there are and there are still plenty of areas for improvement.

There is level, spectacle and density. Those who were among the best not so long ago are sometimes further up the hierarchy because there are a lot more players playing – and playing well. And that happened in two or three years. There is still a small gap between the very best and their pursuers, but this gap is narrowing, with lots of teams playing very, very well.

"That's all we love about padel »

PM: A word on the finals, especially the men's final where the favourites, Tison and Bergeron, did not win against Leygue and Blanqué...

It's always difficult to be a favourite, seeded n°1, you have to play all your matches with a certain pressure against players who are outsiders, have fun and who are able to sublimate themselves. You just have to be a little less well, against opponents like Thomas and Bastien who played really well, for there to be a bit of fragility and feverishness at times. And that's where it rocks, it's played on nothing with a crazy tie-break in the second set and a lot of tension. These kind of matches, that's all we like in padel. It was unbreathable, a fierce fight. And then in these championships, we also saw young people who are fun.

PM: For example, let's talk about Louise Bahurel, who was in the quarter-finals at 16…

ADP : It's super interesting. That's all we're trying to put in place, to create a high-level network, to organize detections. And to see a young player like Louise who releases something on the pitch, who feels the ball and really plays padel, It's awesome.

For her and her partner Camille, having played against Alix and Léa is a great experience. For the moment, they are training well but not enough because we are still in a transitional phase in the world of padel where gradually, we move towards a professional world. But we can start to believe and to think that professional sport exists in the padel. We're getting there and it's great. We see the international circuit which is being structured, which is investing more resources and money. This can allow more players to make a living from it, give ideas and create vocations. This young Louise, we have seen her, we follow her and she must not be isolated, on the contrary, we must create a pool of players among young people to support the first generations of young high-level players.

Arnaud Di Pasquale padel roland garros headbutt
Betting on leisure is not a whim

"We must develop the elite but also and above all leisure"

PM: The world championships in Dubai begin on October 31. What is your prediction for France?

DPA: I know you like predictions, but it will depend on the draw, on a contest of circumstances. It is enough that a good team loses before and that can open the table. When we see today the number of nations that are starting to play well, top 5 would already be good, for girls as for boys. We may find that it lacks ambition, but it is not enough to have a strong pair to win. Having locomotives is great, but you need a homogeneous team. This is perhaps not sufficiently the case today. Let's already raise our overall level and then we can claim, I hope, podiums.

PM: The Italian Tennis Federation has just added the padel to his name. Is it coming soon in France?

DPA: It is true that in Italy, the padel developed very quickly. We are a little behind, but it's exploding, so why not one day a French Federation of tennis and padel. Even if, unlike Italy, we have a Grand Chelem at Roland-Garros, which gives tennis a very strong footing within the Federation.

But it's also true that we have a "Major" of padel at Roland-Garros, so things are moving forward and progressing. There is the license padel, development, there is also more and more tracks, more and more practitioners and level at the French championships. But we still remain in a very leisure dimension, because the elite represents less than 1% of the players. The reality is therefore that leisure must be developed above all. How to do it ? By doing a lot more communication, by believing in it and by being ambitious – and we are!

After 40 years of tennis, Jérôme falls into the pot of padel in 2018. Since then, he thinks about it every morning while shaving… but never shaves pala in hand! Journalist in Alsace, he has no other ambition than to share his passion with you, whether you speak French, Italian, Spanish or English.

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