The coach of the France ladies team, Robin Haziza, returned to his choices and the reasons for his selection for Dubai Worlds, beginning of November. 

An overview

Padel Magazine (PM) – Given the competition, how did you make your choices?

Robin Haziza (HR) : As since the beginning of my mission as captain of the French women's team, I rely on four axes which seem to me fundamental for a selection in the French team.

  • The level of play and performance over the current season
  • The possible combinations according to the different profiles
  • Group cohesion on and off the field
  • The form of the moment which was the challenge of the selection course

Of course, I know that these choices can be commented on in a positive or negative way, nevertheless, it is important to have an overview and well-established criteria to remain as coherent as possible in the search for performance.

As for the pairs, they are not known at this date, even if we know that in the France team there are combinations that work better than others. My goal is to have a team as homogeneous as possible to get at least two points at each meeting.

Laura Clergue was not far from being selected

PM – Was this extended Team France internship decisive?

RH : The purpose of the selection camp was to put the players in a situation of high-intensity competition, as close as possible to what awaits us in Dubai.

They played four hours a day, in the form of themed matches or free play, which gave me a lot of information, both on the form of the moment, but also on the capacities of each other to adapt to another partner or to an imposed tactical situation in addition to significant fatigue at the end of the course.

I congratulate them all for their investment, they clearly met my expectations and always with a smile. This internship also allowed me to test certain combinations which gave me interesting new perspectives.

PM – The absence of Laura Clergue, is it a sporting choice? What tipped the balance? The internship ?

RH : Laura made a strong choice by returning to the circuit after a break of a few months or even a little more. It was obviously not easy for her to leave and despite that, she had a great season with her partner Fiona. I have known her for years, I know her professionalism and her desire to do well, true to herself, she gave everything.

I decided to leave with three players on the left, Élodie, Mélissa and Charlotte, who although she has been playing on the right for seven months, has always played and performed with us in the France team and on the French circuit playing on the left. .

Léa plays with Alix on the left in France, and even sometimes on the WPT with Teresa Navarro, so she is a real candidate to play on the left, depending on the opponents and the possible combinations.

So I favored these four players to the detriment of Laura who is obviously one of those players who could have been.

Haziza soubrié invernon victory united states qatar 2021

PM- Who will be the replacement players?

HR – You know me well enough to know that I never divulge the names of substitutes three weeks before a competition, nor Padel Mag nor even to the girls concerned. I repeat, you need homogeneous teams and depending on the combinations, everything is possible. It's up to them to give the max, to show up at the French championships to give me headaches.

Portugal and Sweden, dangerous teams

PM- Which players surprised you the most during the camp?

HR – I don't want to release one player more than another, they all gave their all and I thank them. It was very interesting to see Marie [Lefevre] and Mélanie [Ros] in this context, they are a little unknown to the general public, but they play very well and bring freshness to this group.

Marie-Amélie [Dardaine], who was the little surprise of this internship, also did some great things in a context that was not easy for her. A first is never easy but she showed a lot of character and talent.

Finally, Lucile [Pothier] had an excellent training camp with a lot of application, desire and an excellent level of play, winning almost all of the matches played.

Robin Haziza coach France Europe Marbella 2021

PM - For Dubai, is the objective of a 3rd place achievable?

HR – It's a goal that is, each year, harder to achieve, on the one hand because Italy is progressing with all these players who play on the professional circuit and this year Portugal, which has a huge armada - with Sofia Araujo and Nogueira, top players of the WPT – will be present without even being seeded [Editor's note: Portugal did not participate in the Worlds last year]. 

The same for Sweden, which is progressing in an incredible way reinforced by the presence of Carolina Navarro, who has been world number 1 multiple times.

So we are waiting for the draw which could be terrible for these nations. But we will give the maximum with the aim of finishing at least in the top 5 in the world! 

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.

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