They had already impressed in their first match. They almost pulled off a feat this Saturday. Yoan Boronad (240th in the world) et Timéo Fonteny (212th), delivered a high-flying performance in Round of 16 of the FIP Silver Bandol, losing in three sets to the seeded 4 Pablo Lijó (46th) et Juan Cruz Belluati (55th) : 6/2 5/7 6/3.

A first set of break-in against two big names

In front of a large French crowd, the two French players took a while to get into the game. The stakes, the prestige of their opponents and perhaps a touch of nerves allowed Belluati, very lively, hurt with his left paw and multiply them by 3. For his part, Lijó plays a clean game, limiting direct errors. Result: a one-way set for the favorites, 6/2.

The French revolt: a second set of high intensity

But from the start of the second act, the face of the match changed. Fonteny shines in smash, Boronad regains confidence and shows his speed. More aggressive, the two French players play freely. They break early, but are caught at 3/3 after a good reaction from their opponents. No matter: they continue to attack (27 winning points, against 16 for their opponents in this set), push Belluati into making a mistake in his diagonal and obtain a new break at 5/5 on two unforced errors from the Argentinian.

With composure, they conclude the round 7/5, making the audience stand up.

A frustrating, but promising final set

In the third round, the intensity of the second set is paid for. Yoan Boronad makes a few uncharacteristic mistakes, and the Spanish take advantage to break early on. But at 3/1, Fonteny, still imperial in smash, sounds the revolt and the French are back at 3/2.

Unfortunately, experience makes the difference. Lijó clearly goes up a notch at the end of the match, tightening the game with authority which allows his team to break once again. At 5/3, Boronad and Fonteny still have a break point, but fail to convert it. The set and the match slipped away from the Blues, 6/3.

Constant progress for young French people

This defeat marks the end of a great week for the two Frenchmen, who had already shone at the FIP Silver in Andalusia a month ago, reaching the semi-finals after beating Diego Garcia and Curo Cabeza, the winners of Gijón P2.

In Bandol, they had dominated in the first round Julien Seurin / Albert Trillas Garcia, before offering himself a gala eighth.

Facing one of the best pairs in the tournament, Boronad and Fonteny proved that they were not so far behind. They confirm their shape of the moment and their constant progress, with an increasingly sharp and complementary game.

Benjamin Dupouy

I discovered padel directly during a tournament, and frankly, I didn't really like it at first. But the second time, it was love at first sight, and since then, I haven't missed a single match. I'm even ready to stay up until 3am to watch a final of Premier Padel !

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