The old Madrid n ° 1, Carolina PRADO, coach of the national team of padel from Great Britain and current 1st player in Great Britain answers questions from Lorenzo Lecci Lopez.

This great player gives us her development vision of padel in France, its performance, but also its problems.

Tennis and padel : common interests

I think it's good up to a point that two sports are linked in a Federation, but there are many interests in common. In the long run they should go their separate ways. In other sports the federations have split up. Obviously the padel needs more investment, but from a political point of view common management is very difficult.

 It is good in some aspects that the two sports join hands, but on the other hand, those who manage tennis will not let the padel Take (the) advantage.

Unfortunately, history repeats itself.

A tennis federation: it's more visibility

For the moment, I think we must continue with the tennis federation to increase the visibility of the padel and use the structure to reach the tennis clubs. However, I am considering a serious medium-term project in which there would be an amicable break between the two sports and that the padel can grow by itself.

The Tennis Federation and the Federation of padel in Spain hardly speak to each other. The only collaborations they make are at the initiative of World Padel Tour. For example, when a plot of padel is posed during the Mutua Madrid Open tennis tournament.

Le padel is completely independent from tennis in Spain. It's the same here in Great Britain, the tennis federation doesn't give us any importance, we are nothing to them. Yet the federation of padel integrated that of tennis in the United Kingdom.

Whether in France or elsewhere, it is far from being so simple.

If the tennis federation continues to control the padel, it will not allow sport to develop. In Spain, there are already more licensees from padel than tennis. I think that if things continue like this, the tennis federation will want to block a sport that can overshadow them.

Football and futsal are not together

In the short term, being with a tennis federation is a good thing. This allows us to be stronger together. But as usual, a lot depends on the ability of those in power to apply a balanced policy.

However, in general, this is not the case, which causes conflicts and a split.

Football and futsal each have their federation ... and both are football.

In France, the tennis federation is so influential that I don't quite see how the padel may leave the FFT if the latter does not agree.

The FFT invests in the padel. Yes, but…

The FFT invests in padel. It's obvious. But from what I see, there is a whole organization to be found. Because, certainly the FFT is powerful, certainly it releases funds which are very important compared to all other federations, but there is not waste in all this policy?

I think that in the end, the two sports will have to separate. Because when we see some mess we really say that it's a shame.

The discourse of some players evolves

I sometimes speak with some top French players. I see that they defend the FFT when there is little, it was not really the case. I do not know if it is to be diplomats, to keep a good relationship with the FFT or if it is really what they think.

But all the better if everything goes well in the end. Is this really a photograph of what everyone thinks in France?

Clubs and amateur players tend rather on the side of an independent federation in the long term I think. In any case, many people believe that the FFT is not doing the job enough despite its enormous strength.

We can consider that all the people who can collect short-term money from the FFT will support the FFT, it is immediate promotion. But it's the same everywhere in all areas. And I recall that in the padel, there are still relatively few opportunities to earn a living while playing.

But we must try to keep in mind that we must aim for the long term and not the short term. Much easier said than done ...

From his names, we can guess his Spanish and Italian origins. Lorenzo is a multilingual passionate about sports: journalism by vocation and events by worship are his two legs. He is the international gentleman of Padel Magazine. You will often see it on the various international competitions, but also on the major French events. @eyeofpadel on Instagram to see his best photos of padel !