Marie-Amélie Dardaine: “Letting go of everything to become a pro padel "| Padel Magazine

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

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

From tennis to padel almost seamless

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 confinement, I was fully into tennis, even if I had already tested a little padel in 2020. With my brother, we bought a pala and we participated in a tournament. I liked it but I continued tennis. Then, I would say that the Covid broke my dynamic and my evolution in tennis. I also had perhaps a little less motivation.

You could say that I got serious about 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 the Covid, but I felt a loss of motivation. I was looking for a new challenge and the padel has become obvious. I started to play a lot, and mainly in tournaments.

It is true that I am more of a competitor and I oriented my beginnings in the padel straight out of the competition. In my region, I am lucky to have access to many tests of padel. 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've always had a good serve and a good volley. I think that these advantages are multiplied tenfold in the padel. This aggressive game, we do not really find it in the padel. And this is what allows me to evolve positively for the moment.

We are not going to veil our faces. Unfortunately, there are currently only a few competitive players in the padel, or not enough at least. 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 responsible for the sector in a structure of assistance to the person. I stopped everything to devote myself completely to padel. Today I am 100% 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 Club de Bandol which will go from 4 to 7 tracks of padel soon.

In addition, an academy of padel was set up at the club, the Generation One Academy, with coaches Aurélien Grandmont and Alexandre Rusovan. We are several players to 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 other people's judgment when I started padel. I was afraid that people would judge me thinking that I was wasting my time. I was afraid at the beginning that people might think that I was a little pretentious because I wanted to throw myself fully into the padel and that I had the hope 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 the padel despite the doubts of some and I think that today I am on the right road. I want to become professional. We are not yet like in tennis in terms of aid, sponsorship, partnership, but I am listening to all the opportunities that may arise from those who believe in my project.

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovers the padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since padel is part of his life. You often see him touring France going to cover the major events of padel French.