The coach of the French women's team Robin Haziza talks about his choices just under two weeks away from the 12th European Championships padel, in Marbella.

Focus on continuity

Padel Magazine : We can see that 7 of the 8 players present in the selection have already been part of the team. You wanted to bet on continuity in some ways, experience? 

Robin Haziza: Indeed, we must not forget that most of them are “reigning European Champions” (without Spain). It has a lot of value. Then as everyone knows, COVID prevented us from playing throughout the 2020 season, in fact the players in the making or new to the circuit were not able to show themselves as much as desired.
The course was therefore very competition-oriented to measure the states of shape of each, and it is clear that this hard core is still present even if other girls are very close and start to push them around.
This is a great signal for the overall level of the padel female in France, I have always thought that competition was beneficial in order to rise to the top.
Finally, another point to take into account is that after a year without playing competition, girls who already have experience of this kind of event have an advantage. Indeed, it is difficult to get into the international deep end for a new player when very few tournaments have been played for a year on French soil ...

team france padel ladies 2019

Padel Magazine : Among this group of players, there is a little news in the person of Wendy Barsotti. Can you tell us a little more about her, about what appealed to you in her game?

Robin Haziza: Wendy is present and she deserves it: first she trained a lot (I am in regular contact with her coach), and then she went to tournaments where she performed in particular with Jessica Ginier in Dubai. She played well during the course by bringing percussion, punch and a padel drawn forward.
I see her better on the right, she is more structured and she could be quite complementary with an aggressive left player by her side.
Of course, she still has a lot of things to work on, she can obviously be improved, but she shows great motivation.

“The counters will be reset to zero after the Europe”

Padel Magazine : Several players have certainly not gone far from the selection, we think in particular of Fiona Ligi. What did they miss? Do they keep their chances for the world?

Robin Haziza: Fiona was the subject of a huge reflection, first because she is an excellent player and also because she gave everything during this home camp where there were a lot of expectations around her.
I found it better on the left. We discussed it and she agrees with that, but given the absences of some important players on the left, I favored the experience, the aggressive side that the player on the left must have.
Fiona is an outstanding defense player but she lacks that little extra, that little back-to-front transition game that would allow her to gain in efficiency and percussion.
We discussed it, it was hard for her to digest and I understand it, but she has already gone back to training and is preparing the P2000 du Mas which will take place in mid-July. I'm super happy with his attitude!
For her as for Élodie and all the others at the gates of the France team, the counters will again be reset to zero for the Worlds in November. There will be tournaments, they will finally be able to show themselves in France and perform! I will follow this closely after the Europe!

Padel Magazine : Lucile Pothier Did he seem impressed during this internship, you didn't consider her mature enough to go to Marbella? Can you tell us more ? You think she can do great things in the padel ?

Robin Haziza: Lucile is the surprise of this internship. She came as a “sparring partner”. I have been following her for some time, exchanging with Arnaud Taboni her coach, and I was not disappointed!
She surprised her world with her detachment, her ability to adapt safely and off the pitch. She played very well, she has a great smash, a nice volley and a very good reading of the game in such a short time of practice.
We discussed together on the points to improve. If she does the job, she will be one of the candidates for the World Championships.
It sends a great signal to all tennis players who are retraining in the padel. While waiting for our schools to padel and a generation of players 100% padel, tennis players are a real breeding ground for us, and this is even more true for women.
I have a former player at -30 who contacted me in the wake of this internship after seeing Lucile's experience, she wanted to come and do an internship in Barcelona the following week! These are excellent signals for the padel feminine which is becoming more and more attractive!

lucile pothier forehand volley

“Fight and give the maximum”

Padel Magazine : In the absence of Jessica Ginier and Laura Clergue, we lose two holders on the left and the two best French players play on the right in the WPT (Alix Collombon and Léa Godallier), how to remedy this?

Robin Haziza: Well, I'm not going to tell you that the team is not weakened in the absence of Laura and Jessica. It is clearly a hard blow, but we will fight and the girls want to give the maximum to represent our jersey as well as possible!
We're going to have to think about the compositions, that's why we're leaving early for Marbella, to meet and work there. I take my hat off to all the girls selected who, despite the work and the constraints of each one, all responded favorably to a very early arrival to train. I love it and it makes me want to give it my all with them even more!

Padel Magazine : Do you already have composition ideas in mind? What are the associations that have convinced you the most in Perpignan?

Robin Haziza: You will understand that Padel Magazine being a media recognized throughout the world, I will not dwell here on the possible compositions. We will discuss, try, work and we guarantee you that we will give the best of ourselves! I trust all the girls to adapt and wet the swimsuit like every time!

Padel Magazine : We imagine thatgiven the level of the Spanish team, the goal will be a silver medal?

Robin Haziza: The silver medal would be exceptional given the circumstances, the absences and the short time to work. Spain is clearly unplayable, it will be played with Italy, Sweden, England and maybe other nations that we know less.
We will give everything, we will seek the best possible result, you can be sure of it!

Thanks everyone for the support, the posts. We are counting on you to encourage us, the France group as a whole deserves it! Peu are professionals, none really makes a living but all play their game when it comes to defending the blue white red flag!

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