We had the chance to interview Jorge de Benito, who was confined in Madrid, and who looks back on the confinement and its consequences on the Spanish padel economy.

 

 Padel Magazine : Tell us about your confinement 

 Jorge de Benito:  I tried to take advantage of the extra time to try to learn new things. I notably followed courses of a Master online. I maintained myself physically, but during the confinement we could not leave our home to play sports. For two weeks, professional athletes have been able to go out at any time to run. For others, it is only possible to go out to do sport from 20 p.m. to do sport. I go out every day to run.

 PM: How is the de-containment in Madrid going? 

 JDB:  Like Barcelona, ​​the city of Madrid is a very densely populated area, so there are bound to be more infections. We have been in phase 0 for two weeks longer than most of Spain. This means that all the padel professionals who are in Madrid cannot train.

 PM: When will we return to the slopes? 

 JDB:  Back on the slopes this Monday, May 25. At the moment we can only play one against one. I'm going to go play with my brother, Xavi de Benito, to do the diagonal. As players of the World Padel Tour We are considered professionals, so we can play at any time, but amateurs will only be able to play from 20 p.m., unless they take a lesson with a teacher. On the other hand, from Monday we can go to the bar at any time with a member of our family and join 8 people and sit 10 at a table on the terrace of a bar ...

 PM: The state of health of the padel sector in Spain? 

 JDB:  The clubs lost a lot of money during the confinement. And there it will continue to be very difficult, all the tracks will not be able to open, only from 1 to 1, on certain time slots, with the bars closed, the crisis is likely to continue for a while. For teachers and club employees, the situation is also very complicated. For the moment the government has not paid technical unemployment. Many people have not been paid for three months, it is very hard in all sectors of the economy. Many Spaniards go out to the streets every night, banging on pots and pans to express their dissatisfaction.

 PM: Regarding the resumption of World Padel Tour ? 

 JDB:  I think it won't be right away. We have to wait until phase 3 is over. And then, we have to give people time to train. Some started again two weeks ago, and in Madrid we won't be able to start again until Monday. So we have to give the players a little time, so that they can all start playing padel again at 4, find their automatisms, put things in place, and so that everyone can start again with a good level. It would be good if the WPT started again in July or August, but I'm not sure that's possible. At the moment, we don't even know if it will start again in 2020. It's so complicated for the clubs that they will have a hard time paying to organize the pre-previas and pre-previas phase of a WPT tournament...

 PM: A resumption in camera possible? 

 JDB:  I don't think there can be as many spectators as before. An organization will have to be found to prevent all people from sticking together. But behind closed doors, it would be too complicated economically for the WPT. Without spectators, they would not make money. Already I am not sure that all the sponsors have the resources to donate all the money that was originally planned. So if we remove in addition the receipts from the ticket office, the bar, derivatives etc.

 

Xan is a fan of padel. But also of rugby! And his posts are just as punchy. Physical trainer of several padel players, he finds atypical posts or deals with current topics. He also gives you some advice to develop your physique for padel. Clearly, he imposes his offensive style as on the padel court!

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