In his latest press conference, Fernando Belasteguín shared his vision for the future of the sport. He spoke about possible developments in the game and ways to reduce the performance gaps between players. And clearly, he is not really in favor of changing the regulations… Explanations.

No room for artificial changes

"When I played with Juan (Juan Martin Diaz), we were forced to play finals in 3 winning sets (so finals that could be played in 5 sets). Later, with Pablo (Pablo Lima), they introduced new balls to try to level out the performances. I am not in favor of these external adjustments to balance the sport. In general, these initiatives appear because there is a pair that wins everything," explains Belasteguín. For him, these initiatives have never helped to change the hierarchy: "In the history of padel, there have never been five pairs at the same level. There are always one or two that dominate."

Priority to training and adaptation

The champion insists on the importance of individual work and adaptation: "If the heat makes the ball come out more easily, or if the cold slows it down, it is up to the players to train and find solutions to beat the best on the field. This is done through work, not through external changes."

A reference to current leaders

Currently, padel is dominated by Agustín Tapia and Arturo Coello, who win 95% of the tournaments. "If changes have to be made, why not. But the priority is for the players to change their methods to try to beat those who dominate."

Fernando Belasteguín defends an evolution of padel focused on the effort and adaptation of the players, while opposing artificial modifications of the rules or the material. In explaining himself, he responds in a certain way to other players like Paquito Navarro who would like things to change.

Varied surfaces, a return to the golden point: the 3 proposals of Paquito Navarro
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.

On the same subject

Tags