Since the beginning of the week, the second edition of theAPT Padel Hublot Monaco Master Tower.

This is the opportunity for Padel Magazine to talk with Fabrice Pastor, President of the'APT Padel Round. Many topics were discussed such as the current tournament but also the calendar for this season or the President's opinion on what is currently happening on the planet. padel.

“Objective one tournament a year in Monaco”

When you see the framework in which this competition is played, it is obvious that the question we all ask ourselves is: why not organize a tournament every year in Monaco?

Fabrice Pastor respond : " Yes, no doubt, we signed three years with the SBM, it is true that it is difficult for the public because it is a small format but I believe that with this photo it is difficult to change places...

The main objective of this event is of course to make the padel as visible as possible”.

Danie Windahl Center Court APT MONACO 2022

Other prestigious destinations are also validated in the calendar of the circuit such as Cape Town, Seville, Budapest or even Mexico City.

“We want the locations and promoters chosen for the tournaments to be unique in the world because we are on a long highway that I see no stopping.”

“Television is a game changer”

“The ambition would be to broadcast matches so that they can be seen by thousands of people all over the world and today this is possible thanks to our APT channel Padel Tour on Youtube. Of course, television changes things a lot. We have seen it in South America. It was a huge success! I even believe that we had the best rating in the world of padel till today. To tell you the truth, we had to cut the retransmission at 22:00 p.m. because immediately after there was a “Pumas” rugby match which is relatively important for the Argentine people and it was not broadcast. The channel let us broadcast until the end of the competition.

And especially the fact of having signed with a chain in South America is something fundamental for countries like Brazil. Currently there are other channels that are more and more interested in APT Padel Tour in Europe but for the moment we will continue with the streaming".

“We all have to work for sport”

Over the past three months the padel professional experienced a total upheaval and many rumors seem to have dispersed since about a possible rapprochement between the APT Padel Tour and the International Federation of Padel.

Two weeks ago Padel Magazine asked the same question à Luigi Carraro (FIP President) in Doha on this possible association. This time it's the turn of Fabrice Pastor to enlighten us on this subject.

"I don't know because it's Thomas (Johanson) who takes care of it, very honestly I think that we must all work for the sport, if possible to move forward together but I believe that it is important to integrate everyone. I know that Thomas had a call with Qatar, I didn't want to ask any questions because I'm on my circuit. When the decisions are real, why not talk about it.

“It's up to the FIP to do its job”

“What you shouldn't do is announce things that won't be done. Premier padel had announced 10 tournaments at 500 euros, for the moment there are only three I believe (Editor's note: for the moment three dates of Premier Padel were announced, in addition to the tournament that took place in Doha). I think the upheaval has been good because the players have realized a lot of things but the players' associations should not be there to impose rules. Miguel Semmler had to sign with us. He received a phone call and at the last moment he did not commit. I don't think it's a call from the WPT...

At the APT we are a circuit that announced dates and price increases, and all of this we achieved. We continue to work for the players with the development of junior tournaments, ladies etc and they don't want to work with us. Personally I think that an International Federation must take care of all the players in sport, it is up to them to do the job. We in this case we do ours”.

“An intelligent merger or union why not”

It is said that stages of the APT like other circuits could be taken over by Premier Padel. A merger would take place around the Qatari circuit.

"A fusion or an intelligent union why not, we already do it with the European Federation of Padel (FEPA). You won't find anyone who will say that I turned down a sports deal. I am open to any possibility, but obviously in a coherent logic for the padel."

“A fantastic calendar”

“Budapest, last year was a “Future”. It was a success. We therefore logically decided to organize an Open with them in this magnificent city of Hungary. We are thus opening up to Eastern Europe, it is very important for us.

This year the calendar is fantastic. We will announce next week where the Italian tournament will be played. We also have Portugal, Madrid, a very important step for us because that's where the Tennis Master 1000 is played, at the “Caja Magica”.

In June we will communicate about the Master Final and the place where it will take place. At the moment there are two cities from two different continents fighting for it but I can't say anything more at the moment. On the other hand, what I can reveal to you is that I am working on two additional competitions for this season on the European and American continents. One would be an Open and the other most likely a Masters. The ideal for me this year would be to reach 17 tournaments plus the Master Final".

Juan Tello and Paquito Navarro on APT tournaments?

We were discussing with Juan Tello to come and play a few tournaments in Europe, and with Paquito Navarro with whom I have excellent relations for a competition in Sweden.

We don't know more about these discussions between the players and the APT circuit at this time. Padel Tour but it would be completely crazy to see these two monsters playing tournaments on this magnificent circuit.

Watch the full interview now in the video below.


Sebastien Carrasco

Future naturopath and passionate about padel, Seb is the health/food gentleman of Padel Magazine. He juggles between pala, quinoa and essential oils. For almost two years now he has been dealing with the news of the little yellow ball with the same passion.