Marie-Amélie Dardaine: “Give up everything to become a padel pro”

18th French padel player (best ranking 17) and former -4/6 in tennis, Marie-Amélie Dardaine, 22, is rather discreet. However, she is the Top 20 player who has played the most tournaments this year (27)!

So much so that today, the left-hander from the PACA region is throwing herself 100% into padel. She tells us about her beginnings, her doubts, her successes and her ambitions.

From tennis to padel almost without transition

I started playing tennis when I was 3 and played until I was 20. I attended the Pôle France de Boulouris near Saint-Raphaël in the south of France in the 12/13 year old category. I was one of the best French players in my category.

Until the first lockdown, I was really into tennis, even though I had already tried padel a bit in 2020. My brother and I bought a pala and took part in a tournament. I liked it but I continued playing tennis. Then, I would say that Covid broke my momentum and my progress in tennis. I may also have been a little less motivated.

We can say that I got seriously into padel in 2021. And in just two years I managed to reach the French top 20. So for the moment, I'm in a very good dynamic, especially since I recently beat for the first time players of the France team. So that motivates us to continue in this direction.

COVID was the trigger

In May 2020, I resumed tennis after Covid, but I felt a loss of motivation. I was looking for a new challenge and padel became an obvious choice. I started playing a lot, mainly in tournaments.

It is true that I am more of a competitor and I focused my beginnings in padel directly on competition. In my region, I am lucky to have access to many padel events. They are often P100 or P250, and it was perfect to get started and to progress.

An aerial game, a volley that helps me

I have an aerial game. In tennis, I always had a good serve and a good volley. I think these assets are increased tenfold in padel. This aggressive game is not really found in padel. And that is what allows me to evolve positively for the moment.

Let's not kid ourselves. Unfortunately, there are currently few competitive female players in padel, or at least not enough. It would be nice if there were more.

But suddenly, when you play a little and you have the tennis hand, I think you can quickly move up the rankings. Moreover, examples abound.

Our 1^er P1000 with Louise Bahurel

With Louise, it was only our second tournament together, and we managed to win our first P1000 together, a bit of a surprise in the sense that we faced two players from the France team who on paper were favorites .

In the first set, they were given a 6/1. And they woke up. But above all, I said to myself “It's possible: we can beat them!”

Louise believed in it from the start. Before the match, she told me that they were within our reach. But secretly, I had a little trouble believing it. I had more reserves at the start because I told myself that the step for the moment was still a little high.

Eventually the objective is to be at this level and even try to go even further. We know that among the girls, there are two French players who are above, namely Léa Godallier and Alix Collombon. On the other hand, behind, it's more playable, and this victory in this P1000 allows us to hope for a place in the French team.

The trigger with the Team France internship

When Robin Haziza, the captain of the French women's team, called me to do this internship, something clicked. This was the trigger.

I did the selection course last October and Robin told me that if I wanted to go further, I had to go all out. So I quit my job last November. I was a sector manager in a personal assistance structure. I stopped everything to devote myself fully to padel. Today I am 100% in padel.

And I'm not going to hide, clearly, today my goal is to try to get a place in this France team in 2023.

My official partner this year is Tiffany Phaysouphanh. We should do most of the big tournaments together, but when she can't because of her work, I will play with other players, as was the case with Louise.

I was encouraged to start

I'm 22 years old. I was told go for it, you have good skills and there is still little competition among the ladies.

I do internships in Spain, in Barcelona, to complete the training done in Tennis Padel Bandol Club which will soon go from 4 to 7 padel courts.

In addition, a padel academy has been set up at the club, the Generation One Academy, with coaches Aurélien Grandmont and Alexandre Rusovan. Several of us players train there, including Laura Clergue, Marianne Vandaele and Adeline Nadal.

Lefties are wanted...

Apart from Marie Lefèvre, there are few left-handed people in France and we know how much left-handed people are in demand. I have an offensive profile, and obviously my strong points are the volleys and my physique.

Besides, currently the priority is to work on the defense, especially with the side window. My physique could just help me in defense where I think I still have a good margin for improvement.

We're working on my service too. This is the big construction site. It sounds basic, but with a good serve you can manage to make points or at least start a point well from the first ball.

Fear of judgment from others

I was a little afraid of the judgment of others when I started padel. I was afraid that people would judge me by thinking that I was wasting my time. I was afraid at first that people might think that I was a little pretentious because I wanted to get into padel and I had hopes of being among the best players.

Now, after the various successes and in view of my rapid development, I feel more legitimate.

When I see the players go to Spain, I feel more comfortable because I'm not the only one in the end going on an adventure.

I threw myself 100% into padel despite the doubts of some and I think that today I am on the right path. I want to become a professional. We are not yet like in tennis in terms of aid, sponsorship, partnership, but I am listening to all the opportunities that could arise from those who believe in my project.

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.