During a meal organized by  Twenty Ten  with  Seba Nerone  et  Rodrigo Ovide ,  Juan Martín Díaz  reflected on the end of his association with  Fernando Belasteguín a duo that remained  over 13 years world number one  and often considered the best in the history of padel.

 An early separation 

For the Argentinian, the decision did not come from him but from Bela, and it was logical in the context of the time.

"He took it, and rightly so. Pablo Lima was playing very well, he was in top form, and there was a left-hander ten years younger than me who was playing a lot."

At that time, Díaz had  39 years and he understands his partner's desire to anticipate the future.

"I think Bela made the right choice. If he hadn't, Lima might have played with Paquito and he would have missed this opportunity."

 Not a question of level or ranking 

Juan Martín insists: the separation is not linked to the results or the ranking.

"It wasn't a ranking issue, never. It's more about anticipating something or knowing when to stop."

Despite the end of their collaboration, he acknowledges that Belasteguín could still play a part.  incredible level for several years .

 No hard feelings 

Díaz insists on the absence of conflict.

"I wanted to show him that I could still play well, even if he chose not to play with me anymore, and I understood that. It never bothered me."

The goal was simply to  to end the year as best as possible , which they did by winning almost all the tournaments of the season except for the final master.

 The end of an era 

This separation marks the end of a duo that dominated padel for more than a decade.
An anticipated handover, accepted and understood by both players, which illustrates the difficulty of staying at the top for so long.

A major page in the history of padel was turned that day, with lucidity rather than regret.

Benjamin Dupouy

I discovered padel directly during a tournament, and frankly, I didn't really like it at first. But the second time, it was love at first sight, and since then, I haven't missed a single match. I'm even ready to stay up until 3am to watch a final of Premier Padel !

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