While theAPT of Tenerife was in full swing, Padel Magazine spoke with Luis Lobo, the new General Manager of the APT. Lex-professional tennis player and ex-vice secretary of sport in Buenos Aires recently replaced Thomas Johansson at the head of the circuit and intends to give the best of him to make him grow at the international level.

At our microphone, he confided in his arrival and his ambitions in this new challenge.

“My job is to make the circuit grow”

"The padel socially evolved a lot. For example, I see that in Argentina we play a lot of padel in clubs. I play with my friends, I gravitate in this world for several years now. Not necessarily on this circuit but in the padel “social”, leisure."

“I think this opportunity comes through the friends and acquaintances we have. My job is to grow the circuit, to professionalize it and to ensure that the APT Padel Tour can organize better tournaments. I love my job and I am very grateful to Fabrice Pastor for his trust.”

“In January 2022, we were talking to Fabrice and I at a mutual friend's house and it was in March, during the Buenos Aires tournament, that he showed an interest in my profile and that he wanted me to come and work with them. on the circuit. And here I am. I give my best every day and there is still a lot to do.”

louis wolf
louis wolf
louis wolf

“Week after week we are improving”

“I think this circuit continues to grow and the APT leaders let me do things to keep it going. I am delighted to work alongside Fabrice Pastor and I thank the whole team who welcomed me in the best possible way. Everyone is motivated and we are on an upward slope in the development of the circuit. We are present on three continents and this internationalizes us even more. Week after week we are improving and it can be seen in this event. Players as well as promoters are happy to work with us.”

“I would like to thank Thomas Johansson and the whole team for their welcome”

“Thomas Johansson, I have known him for several years now. He is a very good tennis player and a beautiful person. When I arrived at the station we started to work together but the things of life cause some to leave the boat and others to continue the adventure. I deeply thank him for having opened the doors to me, for having welcomed me so well, like the rest of the team of course."

“The Master Final will be played in Guadalajara, Mexico”

“For this season's Master Final we will fly to Guadalajara, Mexico. We are very happy to organize it there because it is a big city, with great potential. It's going to be a big event. Plus there are great opportunities there. We are pleasantly surprised by the welcome we receive but I think it is thanks to the work provided by the circuit for so many years now. We can see that every day the players are becoming more and more professional and we will fight for the padel always be in full positive evolution.”

“In a month I will be there for the press conference and at that time I will be able to give you more information on the place which will host the competition at the beginning of December. For the moment the only thing we know is that we will go to a club.

“Alex Corretja, Karim Alami and I are three brothers”

We couldn't end this interview with Luis Lobo without asking him how he felt about the promotion of his great friend Alex Corretja to head of operations for the World Padel Tour.

“Yes Alex Corretja is a very good friend of mine, I would even say my brother. There is also Karim Alami (Editor's note: of Premier Padel) who is also in the padel. We are all looking in the same direction”.

“With Alex we are talking about potential joint projects. We come from tennis, it's a very clear discipline in which we know what we have to do and where the rules are inscribed. What we have to do is work for the sport and not for the people. All three of us think the same way”.

lobo corretja world padel tour apt padel tour
Luis Lobo and Alex Corretja the two friends responsible for two professional circuits of padel

“We are open to sit at a table and chat”

Regarding a possible rapprochement between the different circuits…

“I think you have to analyze the situation and take a step back to see what happened in tennis. There have always been differing points of view but there have always been discussions around a table for the good of tennis. I think we should do the same for the padel and from my point of view, the APT Padel Tour is open to do whatever it takes for the good of this sport. Fabrice Pastor wants the best for the discipline and that's why we are ready to sit down around a table to discuss.

You can find this full interview in Spanish just below:

Sebastien Carrasco

Future naturopath and passionate about padel, Seb is the health/food gentleman of Padel Magazine. He juggles between pala, quinoa and essential oils. For almost two years now he has been dealing with the news of the little yellow ball with the same passion.

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