On the occasion of the presentation of the second edition of the Greenweez Paris Major Premier Padel this Thursday in Aubervilliers, Padel Magazine was able to speak with Gilles Moretton, president of the French Tennis Federation. The ex-tennis player spoke about the ambitions of the Federation but also about what he thinks of the conflict between the WPT and Premier Padel.

“It is necessary to display our ambitions”

“As with many things we do at the Federation, we wanted to innovate, to move the lines a little. The mission of a federation is to develop padel. Although we have made a lot of progress, we felt it was necessary to hold an event to announce our ambitions.”

“We’re going to go crescendo. We did an event last year on a date for which we didn’t really have a choice. But we had to take a stand and it’s important that we, the FFT, position ourselves with the International Federation. By partnering with our strike force, Roland-Garros, we brought something important and they are aware of it. Now we have to go step by step. Open the top when we can do it, we will do it of course, but not only that. We also have to develop the construction of padel courts, our teams in the regions. We must not forget that the Federation works in a pyramid. The Greenweez Paris Major is the top of this pyramid but behind it there are still many things to build and solidify.”

“May padel and tennis be the same at Roland-Garros in 20 years”

“If we launched into this at Roland-Garros, it was not to make an event that we could have organized in a club, let's say traditional. Our ambition today is to meet again in twenty years with a Roland-Garros tennis and another padel, and that they are the same. And we must not forget that if we go back a little in history, tennis has also been there. Before this tournament was not “successful” as today and was not played at Roland-Garros. It was only from 1928 that we arrived here. Things are accelerating and they will go much faster with padel.”

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“A name change for the FFT? Not for today.”

“I will tell you right now the reason why they have changed name like this (in Italy), it will calm you down (laughs). The president who is in place has been there for twenty years and normally he can no longer continue, because he has reached the end of his mandates. So the only way for him to be able to continue practicing was to change the name of the Federation.

In our country, it will be the same, because we have a new sports law that stipulates that you cannot serve more than three terms as president of a federation or league. In Italy, I don't know the rule. However, having discussed it with him, the way to get around it was to create a new name. It's interesting to talk about it, but today it's not on the agenda. We consider padel in the same way as tennis. So, we put significant resources into development, which was not necessarily the case before I arrived. Padel was put away in a drawer like beach tennis. We took it out and I'll tell you honestly, today, we are a four-racquet federation. (editor's note: tennis, padel, beach tennis and court tennis) […] We also consider these four disciplines at the same level.”

“400 practitioners in France”

“We have 36 padel licensees, and we know that 000 reserve courts on Ten'up. Behind that, we have noticed that we have a lot of players who go to clubs, rent by the hour and we estimate that number at 155. This means that if we had an entity solely dedicated to padel, this federation would be one of the five largest entities in France. We would be at the same level as judo and golf.”

"I don't want to see three circuits"

“My concern, my priority, is the French Tennis Federation. It is normal for one to associate with an International Federation and not with a private company, although the World Padel Tour did a remarkable job. Today, we have made a choice, which is strategic because by creating a tournament at Roland-Garros we have brought notoriety to Premier Padel. I am quite confident. So yes, there is politics, because things have already evolved a little. […] I also do not want there to be three circuits like when we arrived because we no longer understand anything. I appeal to the wisdom of each and every one to come together in a common interest, which is the development and promotion of padel.”

Find the interview in full below.

Sebastien Carrasco

Future naturopath and padel enthusiast, Seb is the health/food man 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.

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