Defeated by the Spanish pair Villariño/Munoz in the first round of Premier Padel Qatar Major 2023, the French number 1 played his last match with Mario Huete. From now on, the future of Benjamin Tison will be written with Victor Mena. (Video interview)

A tear in the soleus to start the season

Padel Magazine : It didn't go very well this last match with Mario Huete, defeat 6/3 6/2, it was very complicated from start to finish. It puts an end to a collaboration which had yet been announced recently at the beginning of the year. What happened to make it end so quickly?

Benjamin : Already it's one of the rare times when I lose a match I'm pretty happy because as many know I was injured. I tore my soleus over two weeks ago. Normally it's three weeks off. We fought with my physio Kiko who was incredible. I received very high level care. The objective was to play today at 70% without being in pain. And I didn't have any pain, I wasn't 100% I think it showed on the video, I was a little soft. Already a little satisfied on that, normally it's over.

After all, it was announced a very short time ago, I had faith in this project, we played very well in training, so that doesn't necessarily mean much. We had trouble in the first tournament where we lost 7/6 7/6 and behind I got hurt… It's a bit of a coincidence. I had a proposal from Victor Mena so that got me thinking. At the same time, theformer partner of Victor, Fede Mourinho called Mario. As they are both in Madrid they can train together so we agreed with Mario that I play with Victor and he with Fede.

So I'm starting a new project with Mena. Things could have gone better with Mario, who is an excellent player. I'm not sure that we played together enough to find, as we say in Spanish, "the jugadas", the games that make us play well, we were a bit each on our own with our style of play. With Victor, we already played a tournament together two years ago and we know exactly how we are going to play, that's already a good thing. Well, I think I'm going to be the boss from the back of the field and he's going to be the leader in terms of smashes and offensives, so we are going to distribute the roles rather well and I am very impatient to start this new project.

Benjamin Tison Milano premier padel P1 backhand
Victor Mena smash suspension Premier Padel P1 Milano

The end of Benjamin Tison on the World Padel Tour

PM : A page is turned here in Doha and for the beautiful story, Victor you beat him right here in the first round, so from now on the 2023 season will be written with him, what are your expectations with Victor for this season?

B : This year, as many know, I will stop the World Padel Tour. I think the Premier Padel I'm going to win and I'm going to do some tournaments on the FIPs, the stages of the PP and why not some APTs. Especially the idea with Victor apart from the ranking objectives, is to be as strong as possible. He won some very big matches last year, he beat Agustin Silingo, I beat Lamperti. If the mayonnaise takes, I think we can achieve very great results. The goal is to go as far as possible and we are both very motivated to date with each other.

 There inevitably it is a small moment of doubt, it is not the start of the dreamed season. It's rare because I usually always start the seasons well, this is a new learning experience. Those who know me know that I'm not going to give up. I have big ambitions, even if it is perhaps paradoxical with our three defeats, I think I'm really not far from passing a huge milestone and I intend to do so.

PM : Finally the main thing today is not the result but more your return to form, you feel good, so you can concentrate on the next tournament and be 100%.

B : Absolutely, I haven't been injured much since I've been in Spain for three years. This is my first muscle injury and it's funny not to do anything for 17 days for me who can't keep still. But we learn. When the year is going to be long and I might get a little tired of playing, I will think back to when I gave everything to play. You never know what the future holds, I hope not to relapse. I was not yet fully today and against opponents like that, it does not forgive. But I know I can beat them, but when we have chances and we don't take them, it's complicated. If the physical leaves me alone, I hope we will do great things with Victor.

PM : In any case, we wish you! A very good tournament with Victor would already be a great success!

B : I really hope it goes well, it's always annoying to lose. It's even rare that I take a little jail and see myself with a smile, you won't often see like that. But looking forward to doing an interview with you again after a victory.

To see the video interview made in Doha it's just below:

Vincent Gallie

A fan of oval football, round ball but also racket sports, he was stung by the padel during his adolescence in Galicia. As comfortable in front of the camera as behind a microphone, Vince will be able to bring his vision and expertise as a fan of the little yellow ball.

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