Kristina Clément: “My first and last chance to participate in an Olympic event”

Of Franco-German origin, Kristina Clément is a woman who has several strings to her bow: former player of the France padel, Export manager for the NOX brand and current player of the German team.

This weekend, she qualified to participate in the next European Games which take place in Poland, in Krakow and Malopolska, from June 21 to July 2.

Qualification for the European Games

All the best Germans were present and we had a big semi-final to play. If we passed these semis, we were finalists and qualified.

We win the first 7-5 by making a comeback, we lose the second 7-6 when we are twice two points away from the match, we almost only play punto de oro in each game and the third, we fly over in winning 6-1.

The girls opposite played 80% of the balls on me. They thought I would crack physically, but I trained a lot to be on top physically and it showed!

Corina scholten, she's my partner at the World Championships. Together, we have always won the decisive points to reach where Germany arrived: 8th in Qatar and 8th in Dubai. When we're together, we don't need to train. We have a special connection, we get along very well on and off the court.

To be able to play the Olympic Games in absolute category, it's great!

Didier Deschamps also congratulated me, and gave me 2-3 little tips to better manage the important moments. He told me that I could be proud of myself!

Tournament organization

There was this weekend in Dortmund the selection tournament to play the European Games. This tournament was organized by Jimena Gonzalez and Juan Alday, the respective German coaches for girls and boys.

In boys, there was a single pair selected and in girls, two pairs selected. It's linked to the ranking that we had at the Eighth Nations World Championship, the men were not qualified.

We had a double chance of qualifying to represent Germany at these European Games.

A duo that works with Corina

Corina (Scholten) and I have proven ourselves. We know each other from Qatar. We met at the World Championship and it worked really well right away. We did the same thing in Dubai.

Jimena trusted us each time for the key parts, for the decisive points and we were always there. We are both very strong mentally.

First and last chance

For this deadline, for me, it was a dream to tell myself that it was my first and last chance to be able to participate in an Olympic event. So I thought I had to try it. I therefore prepared myself well physically as I did for Dubai.

Physically, I was closely monitored by my physiotherapist, who gave me very good exercises to do to avoid putting too much strain on my physique, because in Dubai, I played with a knee brace.

It was a small knee problem that I had last September. Now, since the end of December, I no longer need a knee brace to play.

Advice from Raluca Sandu

Raluca Sandu, is a former Romanian tennis pro who lives in Monaco. His best place was 65th in the world. She is fully in the padel and trains every day physically.

I asked her for some advice to help me. I wanted to have a point of view, but also advice on dietetics.

Didier Deschamps is a machine!

From time to time, I also go with Didier. I think it's a great sparring because he puts all the balls back, he loves the walls.

He has a vision of the game and physically he is a machine! He brings all the balls back, and even if it's a game of padel friendly, he doesn't want to lose.

The last time we played together was 15 days ago and I asked him, given his background, what he would recommend to me. He replied that with experience generally you get better, the experience of big tournaments.

Given my age, I have indeed accumulated a little experience with all the events padelistics that I was able to do both with the France team and with Germany.

He also advised me, for the important moments, to focus on my breathing, to breathe deeply, 3 to 4 times to precisely relax the whole body. This is his main trick.

So that's what we tried to put into practice, especially during this semi-final against two excellent German players. We knew it was the key match that we had to win and that it was a tough battle.

A dream about to come true

It's a little girl's dream, so I'm very happy!

Knowing that the padel won't be joining the Olympics for a few years, so you can already take part in the first edition padelistic at the European Games, it's simply incredible!

Eleonore Coulibaly

What a pleasure to be a journalist in the middle of the padel, an attractive growing sport. I hope you enjoy the content offered. See you soon perhaps on the slopes!