No surprises so far in Taranto.  The favorites are living up to expectations in these 2026 Mediterranean Games and the first two French pairs competing this Sunday handled their entry into the competition perfectly.

 Louise Bahurel / Lucile Pothier  et  Yoan Boronad / Timéo Fonteny  will be present in the quarter-finals. But the level will now rise a notch, with two particularly challenging matches against Italy and Portugal.

Pothier/Bahurel without faltering before the Italian clash

For their entry into the competition,  Louise Bahurel and Lucile Pothier, 6th seeds left little hope for the Egyptian women  Laila El Nimr / Moura Hakim .

The French women prevail  6 / 2 6 / 4 , with a generally controlled performance. The statistics confirm their dominance:  59 points won against 34 , 44% of the points earned in return and especially  4 break points converted out of 7 .

A serious introduction before a completely different challenge.

In the quarter-finals, Pothier and Bahurel will face the Italians.  Giorgia Marchetti / Carolina Orsi, seeded 4 And they already know what to expect: the Italians literally swept aside the Egyptians.  Mayar Tawfik / Farida El Halaby 6/0 6/0 conceding only 23 points over the entire match.

Marchetti and Orsi, gold medalists at the 2023 European Games in Krakow, will start as favorites in this quarter-final.

Boronad/Fonteny are solid, the Deus brothers are waiting for them

The same scenario applies to men with  Yoan Boronad and Timéo Fonteny .

The French number 8 seed wins  6 / 4 6 / 4  facing the Egyptians  Mohamed Hatem Ahmed Aboulkassem / Ali Mohamed Nasr Zaghloul .

The Egyptians proved dangerous and notably displayed an excellent first-shot percentage ( 85% ), but that was not enough to really shake the French.

Boronad and Fonteny were particularly effective in the crucial moments:  3 break points converted out of 8 , compared to just one opportunity created and converted by their opponents. In total, the French win  63 points against 52 .

The next round, however, will be of a completely different magnitude.

The French national team will face the  Portuguese brothers Nuno and Miguel Deus, 4th seeds who made short work of the Kosovars Lavdrim and Leotrim Krasniqi:  6 / 0 6 / 0 .

The Portuguese, European vice-champions with their 2025 selection, are among Portugal's main medal hopes in Taranto.

For Boronad and Fonteny, this quarter-final will therefore constitute a real first major test in the competition.

Two other French pairs begin their season on Monday.

Before these quarter-finals,  Two other French pairs will enter the competition on Monday, August 24th. .

In the ladies,  Steffi Merah / Charlotte Soubrié, 8th seeds will face the Kosovars  Donika Bashota / Adrijana Lekaj , on court 3 from 17pm.

At men's,  Bastien Blanqué / Dylan Guichard, 5th seeds will be facing the Monegasques  Nicolas Fedoroff / Noah Minioni They earned their place in the round of 16 after a three-set victory against the Albanians Martin Muedini / Alensio Serjani.  6/3 2/6 6/4 .

For now, then,  No setbacks for the favorites and a perfect start for France But with Marchetti/Orsi and the Deus brothers now on the path to the French team, the tournament will clearly change dimension.

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovered padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since then, padel has been part of his life. You often see him touring France to cover major French padel events.

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