Georges Wakim Egyptian N°1, is a true lover of padel. Met during FIP Star taking place in Cairo, he shared with us his ambitions and his observation of the situation of the padel in Egypt.

” This tournament is an opportunity to play against types of players that I am not used to facing ”

Padel Magazine : When you see the club, the tournament and the level of play, I think you are happy to see that here in Egypt?

George Wakim: “Of course I'm happy to see that Egypt can now host tournaments of this magnitude, and that I can take part in them! The conditions were special, especially because of the wind, but I'm still happy with the level of play, the tournament and the organization overall! “

Padel Magazine : Compared to the game itself, do you have the opportunity, the habit, to play against this type of player in Egypt?

George Wakim : “Honestly no, that's why I think hosting this type of tournament is a good thing. Because it gives me the opportunity to be able to play against very good players, see their level of play and see what facets of my game I can work on to improve. “

Objective: to face competition abroad

Padel Magazine : Would you be tempted to try to play international tournaments in Europe, Doha or Dubai?

George Wakim: ” Yes, for example, I intend to go to first QSI tournament in Doha. It's not 100% confirmed yet, but we'll see what happens! Going back to the question, of course the goal is to be able to go abroad and try to participate in different tournaments to gauge my level against the competition. “

Padel Magazine : To come back to your background, can you explain to our readers and viewers, how did you start the padel ?

George Wakim: “Well when we started playing padel (2-3 years ago) we were a group of 8 people. At first we only played friendly matches between us, and then gradually things started to take on more and more scope and importance. Today the padel is much bigger than it was two years ago in Egypt, and we are lucky to have many tournaments here! “

Padel Magazine : In relation to the media and the population, how do they feel about the padel in Egypt ?

George Wakim " Today, it is mainly the “community padel“Egyptian which seems to grow exponentially every year, and I think that's a good thing for the game and for us players. The sponsors invest a lot and we are delighted to see that the padel will surely continue to expand. "

“What I love most about the padel, it’s the social side “

Padel Magazine : Last question, what do you like in the padel ? What do you dislike or would like to see more of?

George Wakim: ” What I like is the competition above all! I've been playing tennis since I was 4 years old, so I really like that competitive side. But what I love most about the padel it's the community, social side.

What I would like to see more is that here in Egypt, the players are more serious and continue to train more so that they can be competitive like the players that we have seen on this tournament! “

To see the interview in its entirety, it happens here:

Nasser Hoverini

Passionate about football, I discovered the padel in 2019. Since then, it's been crazy love with this sport to the point of abandoning my favorite sport.