They were favorites and they assumed their seed 1 status: Benjamin CRANE (#21) & Maxime Moreau (n°6) won this Sunday the 1st P1000 of the year 2022 which took place in the magnificent complex of 4PADEL Strasbourg. Throwback to a weekend full of emotions!

A quality board

Damien PELLISSIERE (responsible for network 4PADEL), Alexis CLEMENT (director of 4PADEL Strasbourg) and Maxime BERARD (responsible padel) had every reason to be proud of the line-up assembled on this 1st P1000 of the year in Strasbourg.

With nearly 50 registration requests, the level was raised from the qualifications: cut at 489 for the main draw & 2273 for the qualifications. “We saw the registrations come in as they went – ​​it was amazing to see some of the best homegrown players, who are usually found on the P500 final draws – just entering qualifying” says Alexis.

Tournament results

And it was not the last-minute withdrawals of seeds 2 and 5 that spoiled the party, which started on Friday evening.

Hotly contested matches

With teams of a very homogeneous level, the meetings were hotly contested – and this from the qualifications. Indeed, with 16 teams divided into 4 pools for only 4 tickets to win for the final table, the fight was bitter – the last ticket having been won at almost 00:30!

Saturday promised to be a continuation and we were not disappointed with seeded players who trembled and others who fell. With the prize list of these feats of arms:

  • COIRAULT/DEVOS (TdS 8) saves 4 match points in 1/8 against BOURSEREAU/GRAVEJAT
  • MACCHI/MUESSER (TdS 6) saves 2 match points in 1/8 against HOLDERBACH/KOHLMANN
  • LE SAUX/RAICHMAN Black MITJANA/ROMANOWSKY (TdS 3) in 1/8th

We also found these last two victorious teams on Saturday evening in 1/4 final – for what will certainly remain as THE GAME of the tournament. Three disputed sets (5/7 7/5 7/6 (8)), off the track and match points saved on both sides: the spectators present will have been spoiled! In the end, a victory for Le Saux and Raichman to afford their 1st semi-final in P1000.

Padel Magazine was also on site from the 1 / 4 de finale and to Sunday day, which allowed us to bring you this big game live!

Le Saux/Raichman – so close, so far…

They will have been the sensation of the weekend, going through all the emotions (missed match points and saved match points). Fabien LeSaux (n ° 175) and Philemon Raichman (n°69) will have been one set away from achieving their dream: winning a 1st P1000! They therefore discarded the pair COIRAULT/DEVOS (TdS 8) 7/5 in the 3rd set – with a change of racket (loaned by a local player) at 5/5.

A surprise ? Yes for local spectators but not that much when we know their journey in 2021! 1/2 finalists of the regional championships of Ile de France, their momentum was halted by Fabien's injury. If this did not prevent Philémon from performing on his side (several 1/4 finals in P1000 in recent months), this explains the gap in the rankings between the 2 players.

This gap, we haven't seen it all weekend in the field and Benjamin Crane (#21) & Maxime Moreau (n°6) must have asked themselves the same question – when they met down 1 set to nil (6/3) in the final by this surprising team which gave them 217 places in the standings!

Grue/Moreau, a 1st title that calls for others… starting next weekend?

Back to the wall, the number 1 seed then played his best padel – the same one that had allowed him to win his 1/2 final quickly – to get the last two sets 6/2 6/1 and thus win the title. The 1st of 2022 and probably not the last!

Answer from next weekend when they will try to make the pass of two, in one other P1000 4PADEL, that of Limoges.

The 2 finalist teams with Alexis Damien Maxime from team 4PADEL

Even though he discovered the padel about ten years ago in Italy, Vincent only devoted himself to it after too many “firsts” in tennis tournaments. Not much better at bandeja, he was retrained as referee, the only way to still be present at the time of the final! A lover of sport in general, this Norman expatriate in Alsace will try to make you live the news of the Padel in the “Great East”.

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