There is a reality that is often difficult to accept at the main padel competitions in France, such as the P2000 in Esprit Padel, which took place this weekend. Laurine Bergaud looks back at the challenges of the women's ranking and the inconsistencies it creates.

Laurine Bergaud and Jennifer Dénecheau found themselves seeded 1 in the FFT Padel Tour to Esprit Padel and finished third in the tournament after a 3-set defeat to Ligi/Bahurel in the semi-finals. But Laurine believes that finding themselves in first place in a tournament when they are not the favorites poses a problem.

“Honestly, I can only agree that we should not be ahead of them in the ranking. It is obvious, they are way above.”

She acknowledges that some players, particularly those from the French team, should be ahead of her and her partner Jennifer in the rankings. However, she insists that this is not a personal choice but a consequence of the current system.

“We suffer from this ranking as much as everyone else… Already, carrying this status of seed number 1 when we know that we shouldn't be, it's not easy to manage.”

Three categories of players in France

Laurine Bergaud today distinguishes three categories of players on the French circuit:

“There are those who are 100% on the circuit, like Alix Collombon, Léa Godallier, Carla Touly, Louise Bahurel and others (Sireix, Dardaine). Then, those who are somewhere in between, like Jessica Ginier, Lucile Pothier, Charlotte Soubrié, Fiona Ligi. Finally, there are us, who play all the tournaments in France while trying, depending on our schedule, to participate in a few FIPs.”

This lack of structure in the women's circuit creates a blurred hierarchy between players, particularly those who cannot fully invest themselves internationally, but who remain very active on the national level.

“We deserve our ranking in the sense that we play everywhere in France and we try to get the best possible results. But, to make it more logical – both for us and for those who don’t know padel well yet – these players should be ahead of us.”

However, she insists on the commitment needed to maintain this rank, even if it may sometimes seem paradoxical:

“I think we deserve this ranking because we move all over France! And sometimes, it's easier to go to FIPs than to go to some P2000s. But we play the game, because also, we don't have the level to do the in-between and the time either.”

A ranking that does not reflect sporting reality

This observation highlights a persistent problem in women's padel in France: a ranking which, for some players, does not always reflect their real level and which can generate inconsistencies in the hierarchy of competitions.

“We are in a situation that we have never experienced before in padel. For the guys, it has not been the case, they are less afraid to throw themselves 100% than for us girls. There are a lot of girls in between and for them, as for us, it is not easy.”

The debate is therefore open: how can we adapt the current system to better reflect the real hierarchy of French players?

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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