Who does not know Gemma Triay ? We are talking about a former world number 1, multiple World Champion with Spain… in short, a track record as long as an arm that we could not enumerate.

Gemma Triay is also a player who made a lot of talk about her last season, after deciding to end its association with Alejandra Salazar. A separation that caused a lot of talk among fans…

New season and new separation for Gemma who, this time, stops her collaboration with Marta Ortega. Today, the Menorcan woman is embarking on a new project with the young and talented Claudia Fernandez.

So, come in controversies, separations et new project, Gemma looks back at the news of recent months and reveals his ambitions for the future.

Ball grinding in Riyadh

[In a recent article, we told you, like many media, the story of Gemma Triay, who touched the ball with her head on a failed smash in Riyadh. She sent us a message afterwards to tell us that she didn't touch the ball with her head... but with her pala. Therefore, we wanted to know the end of the story…]

“It’s quite funny in the end. On the track, there was a lot of wind, a lot of sun. I ended up with a very high lob. I thought I could hit the ball well but She kept moving forward, forcing me back again and again. I finally wanted to let her pass and I ended up touching her… with the racket.

Afterwards, I understand that if you don't see it clearly, you can easily believe that I touched it with my head, but it was indeed with the racket!”

His adventure with Marta Ortega

“I think with Marta we had some good weeks. However, we would have wanted a little more, obviously. I'm not going to lie, when we got together, we wanted to fight for more, get to more finals and win more titles. In any case, that was my goal.

In the end, we made a few finals, we won two titles. But we felt that in the last tournaments, it was affecting us a little... especially since the Mexico tournament in October. We had three mediocre tournaments…

After, It wasn't brilliant but it wasn't catastrophic either. ! We both played at a good level. The goal we had for that year, we would have liked to make it last a little longer. But ultimately, the decision was to break the project and start, for my part, this new project with Claudia Fernandez.

Triay Ortega Roma final

A lack of regularity

“What we were missing, with Marta, it's a bit of regularity. We were unable to play calmly. I wasn't playing at a good level. We believe that when two good players come together, they will always play well. But we see that although two very good players can come together and not have the expected results.

We still had 10 positive months. I learned a lot playing alongside him.”

Her decision

I made the decision to stop with Marta. Last year, in December, I told her that I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue this season with her. I wanted to give a little time, play the Master Final in Barcelona to be able to make the decision. I wanted everything to be clear.

In the end, I decided to continue with Marta. We had a very good pre-season together, morning and evening. We wanted to try and we thought our level could really improve.

However, during the Hexagon Cup, I felt that we had not managed to release the best version of our pair.

A new adventure with Claudia Fernandez

"I was the one who contacted Claudia. At the start of the year, everyone already had their partner and so I decided to write to her to ask if she wanted to play with me.”I was the one who contacted Claudia. At the start of the year, everyone already had their partner and so I decided to write to her to ask if she wanted to play with me.

I had been observing this player for some time, I had already played against her two or three times. I had the impression that she was a player with a lot of experience despite her very young age…

She has peace on the track and I really like the way he handles important moments. Whether when things are good or when they are bad. She is very emotionally stable and she plays in a very calm manner. She chooses how to play the ball very well.

In addition, she is a player who makes almost no mistakes. These are all his reasons that made me want to play alongside him. She is not a player who will make a lot of winning shots but she is very solid. This is what I was also looking for in my partner."

Their debut in Qatar

“I'm not going to hide it, we were nervous before starting this tournament, especially because it is a Major. We started with a match, in addition, which was difficult, against Alix and Jessica: two players who know each other very well, who fight a lot.

Additionally, we played our first match on the center track. I must say that I was very surprised by Claudia's ability to manage her nerves. At the end of the match, she admitted to me that she had been a little nervous at the start of the match but she didn't give the impression at all!

In this match, she played well, very calmly. She made very few mistakes so I'm very happy with the way we're starting and I hope we continue like this."

In the end, was it a good choice to leave Alejandra Salazar?

“We always have doubts. I had a lot of doubts when it happened because it's also my personality. Basically, our separation happened because she had to have an operation. She told me that if I felt good with another player, I had no obligation to continue.

Regardless of that, I really enjoyed making the decision to continue with Marta. With Marta, I felt good and I projected myself a little more into the future. Basically, the wish was to continue 2024 with her.

After two and a half years together with Ale, maybe it was time. It's not easy to manage a project like this. We did very well, but there were things, also off the track, that impacted us. We found ourselves in this kind of moment, a little difficult, which made me doubt.

But there is always this doubt: “If I had continued with Alejandra, what would have happened?“. Afterwards, it's easy to talk about it now but, at the moment, I felt like I had to do it this way."

Salazar Triay
Gwenaelle Souyri

It was his brother who one day told him to accompany him on a track. padel, since then, Gwenaëlle has never left the court. Except when it comes to going to watch the broadcast of Padel Magazine, World Padel Tour… or Premier Padel…or the French Championships. In short, she is a fan of this sport.

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