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, a 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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