Arthur Hugounenq, 22, entered the French top 50 even though he has been playing padel for just over a year. This 1,82 m left-hander, known for his power, has decided to prefer padel to tennis and dreams of a professional future. A former -4/6 in tennis, he is licensed with Tennis padel club of Palavas, a very dynamic club in terms of padel.

“My opponents complained in the P500s”

Padel Magazine : Between tennis and padel, have you chosen?

"Even though I'm a tennis teacher, I give priority to padel, I hardly play tennis anymore. In my tennis club palavas, we will try to put together a good level padel team to play in N1 next year. I really started playing padel at the beginning of 2022. At the beginning, I was assimilated 1500e, but I was quickly corrected to 600 because my opponents were complaining about the P500s I was doing… Then I started to get decent results, things just happened and here I am 49e, so I'm so happy.

Arthur Hugounenq defense

" I loved it "

It's true that I come from tennis. My best ranking was -4/6 and I was ten points short of being at -15 before the Covid. I played Future tournaments and a few Challengers, I had the idea of ​​becoming a pro. But the recovery after the Covid was not easy, whether in financial terms or even mentally, it would have been necessary to go back abroad, it was complicated.

It was at that time that I discovered padel near my home in Beaucaire (Gard), with friends. I loved it. Afterwards, I arrived in Montpellier, I started playing a few games at level 6 or 7. I made friends with quite a few people, but in terms of the game, I was a bit bored, my partners didn't really understand why I was playing at that level. By playing tournaments, I was able to meet people, make friends and play increasingly interesting games with the good players from the south.

What are your ambitions for the future?

“I planned to do a few tournaments with Simon Boissé (ex-n°4 and current 63e French, at 40), which is a legend: I call him “the maestro”. We have already played together this year Bordeaux P2000, ranking 7e for our first tournament. On a daily basis, I train with Yannick Maurel three times a week. It's good, but I want to do more. I don't like to do things by halves, so I really want to go for something professional. »

volley padel fft padel tour Arthur Hugounenq simon boissé
victory fft padel tour Arthur Hugounenq simon boissé
Arthur Hugounenq smash

"I'm thinking about going to Spain"

“The problem I'm starting to have is that you sometimes have to travel far to make tournaments that earn points. It's like tennis, which cost my parents a lot of money when I was younger. I work but it's complicated and it's expensive to go to tournaments every weekend. I am therefore looking for sponsors to finance travel and accommodation. I will have Adidas equipment, but I need sponsors to flock the clothes. It would allow me to move towards something more professional. I am also considering the idea of ​​going to Spain to train there for a certain number of weeks during the year. And why not eventually go to Barcelona or Madrid…”

Is a powerful left-hander like you courted by left-wing players on the French circuit?

"To tell the truth, not that much, I'm still new in the game, I'm new to tournaments, I don't know many people, I haven't had the opportunity to speak with the French top 20 players. . But I hope that with good results, it will happen more and more. I will be seen playing more and more and if my game interests good players, I hope they will contact me. »

His strengths: volley and smash

What are your strengths in the game?

"I would say it's everything related to the net: the volley and the smashes. In tennis, people already said that I was skillful and I think that's also the case in padel. My live game is pretty good and after the windows, even if I've already progressed a lot, I still need to progress compared to the Spaniards who defend very well. I think I still have room for improvement on all the shots specific to padel, like bandeja or vibora. I'm aware that I still have a lot to learn. I'm obviously not stopping at the French ranking: if my goal is to play internationally, I can't stop at 49e French place, even if it is a good ranking. »

Do you also train physically?

"For now, I'm training on my own by doing sessions, but my goal is to have funds as quickly as possible to finance physical training. Because I don't have the means at the moment to pay for both padel and physical training. The idea is to be able to train physically about four times a week, because I have a great coach with whom we work very well. I'm really committed to my padel project and I can't wait to have the funds and sponsorship that will allow me to carry it out."

Arthur Hugounenq Simon Boissé victory fft padel tour
Arthur Hugounenq Simon Boissé FFT Padel Tour Victory
Arthur Hugounenq simon boisé volley smash

“Incredible tournaments”

What is your competition program this year?

“On the competition side, my objective this season is to perform in the big French tournaments, before perhaps also going to play abroad. For example, I am looking for a partner for the FIP Rise in Bordeaux, in April. I will also try to do the Canet FIP, where I had done 8e last year. These are great experiences, incredible tournaments with an organization of madness, a bit like during the P2000. I need to do tournaments of this level, because I've done very little so far: about ten P1000s and two P2000s. Many of these big tournaments take place in the north of France, but I'm in Montpelier and it's often complicated. For example, I would like to go to Liévin, but the train costs 300 € and I have to find accommodation. »

Don't have access to a private jet yet?

“Indeed, it would be a good solution (laughs), but I will have to find very, very big sponsors! »

After 40 years of tennis, Jérôme fell into the padel pot in 2018. Since then, he thinks about it every morning while shaving… but never shaves with a pala in hand! A journalist in Alsace, his only ambition is to share his passion with you, whether you speak French, Italian, Spanish or English.

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