Elodie Invernon looks back on her participation in Premier Padel Qatar Major, where she entered the main draw despite a delayed trip and a difficult start. From her nighttime arrival to her qualifying victory, Elodie gives us a look back at her experience, her challenges, and her enthusiasm for the season to come.

A delayed arrival 

It was quite special because I was supposed to arrive on Thursday and finally I arrived on Friday because I was stuck at the airport: I was stuck for a day in Istanbul. I arrived Friday night at three in the morning to start qualifying on Saturday. You could say I arrived in time for the match (laughs)!

A game with twists and turns

I admit that we didn't start the match very well, it was a little hard to get into it. Afterwards we still fight on each point, we try to have a good attitude and we persist. We were down 2-5 in the second set, and at that point we finally managed to make breaks while fighting and that put us back in the game. We ended up winning the second set 7-6. One of our opponents collapses a bit at 5-0 in the tie-break, she has a calf injury and she calls the physiotherapist. And then one thing led to another, we won 7-0 in the tie-break, and in the third set, our opponents gave up at 4-0 due to injury. We were obviously super happy despite our opponent's injury. Take a qualifying lap, it's great! 

They were seeded number 2, of course on paper we said to ourselves that it wasn't going to be super fun, but in the end padel anything can happen, we even see it among the best players in the world. Even if there are favorite pairs, we can still manage to come out on top in matches like that and we proved it, so we were happy.

Elodie Invernon

I really didn't expect to make a final table here, and then basically we weren't even supposed to be there because for the record there were 53 pairs that had to go into the table, and we were the 54th. And then, surprisingly, the organization called us on Monday to tell us that with the Wildcards combined, we could enter the table! It’s a great satisfaction!

A busy schedule

I'm going to Rouen this weekend for the P1000 of Padel Arena. I'm very happy because I'm from Normandy, so being able to find the Rouen family and all the people I know is a pleasure. Then there are other FIPs arriving, there is Dubai, London. I haven't organized all of this yet because we still have a little time to register. I'll see which tournament I register for, but it will come together. In any case, we're off to a good start to the season!

Knowing that this is my first tournament of the season, even if it's a little hard to start with a Major, I find that it motivates a lot for the rest of the season, and I hope that the we will have a good continuation throughout the year. We had so many problems coming here and it was so complicated between my partner who had passport problems and me. We said to ourselves that at some point the wheel was going to turn, that there was going to be a little positive. And to have won the first round, we are super happy!

Dorian Massy

New follower of padel, I am fascinated by this dynamic sport which combines strategy and agility. I find in the padel a new passion to explore and share with you on Padel Magazine.