At the end (or almost) of a week in Toulouse, the most assiduous spectators will have been able to see the best players in the world up close. Observing these top athletes up close, whether on or off the track, during their practices and pre-match routines, is a rare privilege.

We can see their way of managing pressure and tense moments, of seizing every opportunity to relax and bring this pressure down, of sometimes using the public by putting on a show, of sometimes getting annoyed, of getting frustrated or challenging. a decision of the referee.

The vast majority of players are exemplary in fair play, especially when recognizing when their ball has touched the grid before the ground, a part of their body or has doubled on the ground. A few rare specimens sometimes allow themselves to be intoxicated by their desire to win or take advantage of the fight in the arena to unload a little aggressiveness.

A start to the match not yet fierce

Fan favorites, Paquito Navarro and his partner Federico Chingotto are among the most spectacular and expressive players – especially the Sevillian. This Saturday in the semi-finals, they returned to the Toulouse arena in quiet mode, like a pack of lions arriving at the watering hole without the intention of immediately hunting. The ferocity had returned again.

The match against Ale Galan and Jon Sanz began with an observation round, almost like a practice match between friends. The tension seemed to the absent subscribers, the smiles on the faces, in particular those of Paquito and Federico, of which one felt the pleasure of playing; and sometimes to play tricks on their opponents, after a particularly virtuoso point.

They snatched Jon Sanz's serve first, but weren't alarmed to lose just after Chingotto's. Shortly after, they redid the break and won the first set 6/3, without giving the impression of forcing.

The second set saw Galan and Sanz gradually increase in power, in an increasingly hot sports palace. But Navarro and Chingotto, far from panicking, also raised their level of play and – with a little more luck on the punto de oro – could have snatched the opposing serve several times. Their prey of the day granted themselves a respite by winning this second set with energy with the score of 6/4. Despite this, Paquito still wore the same confident smile.

Jon Sanz, wounded animal

But quickly in the third set, the big cats Paquito and Fede resumed their pursuit, harassing and working their opponents to the body. And what had to happen happened: on a particularly difficult point, Sanz suddenly had a soft spot, unable to come back and defend a volley in the middle. Like a wounded animal, he then took refuge in a corner of the track, overwhelmed. Galan joined him to support him and try to help him.

Opposite, the two large predators have lost nothing of the scene, enticed by this obvious sign of weakness – the equivalent of the smell of blood in the African savannah. The next moment, Jon Sanz resumed his place on the fly, trying to relax his calves, probably victims of cramps, after his 2:47 game played the day before.

From there, almost all the bullets were concentrated on the weakened "animal", which chained the faults and could no longer move to defend itself. A first break concretized this domination, followed by a second which left no doubt about the outcome of the match.

The public in the arena was then able to applaud this symbolic “killing”, perpetrated without cruelty and worthily celebrated by the winners of the day. But Paquito and Chingotto know that if they were the beasts today, they may be the prey tomorrow.

Read also the report of this match

When Sanz accused the blow

After 40 years of tennis, Jérôme falls into the pot of padel in 2018. Since then, he thinks about it every morning while shaving… but never shaves pala in hand! Journalist in Alsace, he has no other ambition than to share his passion with you, whether you speak French, Italian, Spanish or English.

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