Georges Wakim, Egyptian No. 1, is a true padel lover. Met during the FIP Star taking place in Cairo, he shared with us his ambitions and his assessment of the situation of 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 : Coming back to your career, can you explain to our readers and viewers how you started 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 things gradually started to grow bigger and bigger. Today padel is much bigger than it was two years ago in Egypt, and we are lucky to have many tournaments here! “

 Padel Magazine : Regarding the media and the population, what is their feeling towards padel in Egypt? 

 George Wakim  " Today, it is mainly the Egyptian “padel community” that seems to grow exponentially every year, and I think this is a good thing for the game and for us players. Sponsors are investing a lot and we are happy to see that padel will surely continue its expansion. "

“What I like most about padel is the social side”

 Padel Magazine : Last question, what do you like about padel? What do you not like or would you 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 like most about padel is 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 padel in 2019. Since then, I have been crazy in love with this sport to the point of abandoning my favorite sport.

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