Le  best Belgian padel player ,  Clement Geens  (85th), plays with the  Thomas Leygue  (90th). On the occasion of the  Brussels P2 , he confided in the microphone of Game Set & Podcast. He comes back to his  defeat against an Argentinian pair , On the  players' boycott , and on the  life on the international circuit .

La  2025 season  by Clément Geens started well with a  first victory in a Major  visit us at the  Qatar , which took place from April 11 to 19. With his partner  Thomas Leygue , they won in two sets against  Mario Huete Hernandez (90th)  et  Denis Tomas Perino (82nd)  : 7/6, 6/2.

Unfortunately, during the  first round of Brussels P2 , The  Franco-Belgian pair  was stopped by the  Argentinian pair Aguirre (35th) / Alfonso (33rd) .

"I had higher expectations than in other years. We weren't necessarily playing against an unplayable team; there was a chance to win. I was stressed; I wanted to do well. I don't often get the chance to play in Belgium. I made mistakes, and the score was quick. I was the worst of the four, and I was disappointed. It was the tournament I was most looking forward to this year," he explains.

Clément Geens also returns to the  players' boycott  at the start of the 2025 season:

"All the information about the players' suspension was transmitted in Spanish, it was complicated to follow everything."

Surprisingly, for the  Brussels P2  (April 20 to 27), a  international competition  less important than a  P1 tournament  or a  Major   best padel players  made the trip to Belgium:

"The tournament director managed to get everyone to come. The top pairs weren't required to come and play Brussels P2."

Concerning I' padel progress  en  Belgium ,  France  or  Italy , Clément Geens always notes a  retard  relative to  best nations in the world  :

"Spain and Argentina are 30 or 40 years ahead. Padel has really started to develop in other countries over the past five years, just after Covid. It's not yet a high-profile sport; there are no TV rights, for example. Even if the matches are on YouTube, it's something that padel fans should do."

 Clement Geens , which is part of the  world top 100 , continues to work alongside in his academy, the  Padel Event Academy , located south of  Brussels  :

"I could live off the prize money and sponsors, because I'm number one in my country. If I had the same ranking in Spain, I would receive much less help from the Federation or sponsors. I live well, I have nothing to complain about. For example, we earned €1 gross after our defeat in the first round of the Brussels P000 and €2 gross after our defeat at the Qatar Major. My plane tickets to Doha cost me €1 return, while I also had to pay the coach who accompanied us. The tournament management is providing us with food and a hotel."

"At the moment, a tennis player who enters qualifying in a Grand Chelem earns more than a top 100 padel player.

The player decided to  stay in Belgium  to train, unlike his partner  Thomas Leygue  :

"A year of training and matches costs him €50, because he decided to go and train in a  academy in Spain . It costs me €20. In any case, you have to go and live in Spain to progress if you are an 000-year-old padel player. To progress, you have to compete with the best players, who are in Madrid or Barcelona. We lack a pool of players in Belgium, it takes time.

Le  padel is played by two people , and even for the  world top , it is difficult to find one  long-term stable partner . Since its beginnings in 2020,  Clement Geens  has known no less than  eight different partners .

“You can change teammates very quickly. It’s hard to find a permanent partner in padel. I quickly see if it works or not: the attitude on the court, if we get in each other’s way during a rally… There are no contracts between partners. For the Major in Qatar, I was supposed to play with the Argentinian  Juan Ignacio Rubini  (97th), but he preferred to play with another partner who was ranked higher than me. It's always a bit complicated, you have to be ready to find a solution quickly."

Finally, when asked if the  tennis is losing ground  in front of the  rise of padel , he answers:

"Yes, we see it in Belgium: tennis courts are being removed to install padel courts, because it's more profitable for private organizations. It's not to the detriment of tennis; there's a way to coexist. Tennis clubs that were doing poorly have made money thanks to padel."

The podcast interview Game Set & Podcast to find on YouTube.

Henri Pasquet

Passionate about soccer and tennis since I was a kid, I've been playing ping-pong for three years at a club in Nantes. More recently, I discovered padel! Basketball, rugby, golf, and motorsports: yet more new sports that I follow regularly. On the cultural side, since I love giving my opinion, I write film and video game reviews on my Instagram page, Silence ça Mix.

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