Sergio Alba and Francisco Gil are two players of the World Padel Tour who, after a big end of the 2019 season, spent 4 laps in Marbella. Two eye-catching and sympathetic players.

We had the chance to interview Sergio Alba, 29 years old, and currently 66th in the ranking of World Padel Tour. Former student in STAPS, he is known for always give everything on the track, with his partner Francisco Gil, 69th at the WPT, and which comes from win the FIP Rise de Mérida. The two men, who train in Madrid, with Adrian Caviglia, overview alongside Clergue / Godallier in Marbella, hit hard in the first tournament of the season, winning four games in three sets, before losing in eighths 6/4 6/2 against Lima / Navarro.

Padel Magazine : Francisco and you are not necessarily very well known to the general public in France, can you tell us how long you have been playing together, what are your goals in padel?

Sergio Alba: Francisco and I have been sharing the court since 2018. From the beginning we wanted to build a serious project, training together and trying to develop our vision of padel together. Our first goal is to improve ourselves, always with the goal of entering the WPT tournament table. We hope in the future to have a ranking that allows us to find ourselves directly in the final table. (editor's note: they are currently starting in Previas).

PM: At your level, can you live solely from padel?

HER : We can't live only from the "professional padel player" part. So, we both give padel lessons, trying not to do too much either to be able to keep time for training and recovery.

PM: Having seen you play several times, and knowing that you have studied in STAPS, I imagine that you attach particular importance to physical preparation, don't you?

HER : Of course, today the physical aspect seems essential to me, whatever the sport. We see that padel is an increasingly powerful game, with players who are always more ready. For my part, I love physical preparation so I try to apply all my knowledge to my own training. In addition to that, I am followed by Exito28Madrid (professionals in personal training), and by Martin Villar, who trains me specifically on the “court” part.

PM: Does all this represent a large weekly hourly volume?

HER : It depends of course on the weeks, because sometimes we are in tournaments several days in a row, but basically I do 1h30 of physical training on the court on Mondays and Wednesdays, and two hours in the gym on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. In addition to padel training, matches etc.

PM: In these times of coronavirus, do you manage to keep yourself in shape?

HER : I don't let myself be put down, I do a double daily session of physical training at home, using all the equipment I have, whether it is sports equipment or not! I put all my training on Instagram (@s_alba1990). Basically I do one day of strength work, one day of resistance. And the second workout of the day is more focused on compensation work, injury prevention, muscle control, or flexibility. I got it into my head that I had to take this period as a new pre-season and I am convinced that those who are seriously working on their physique at the moment, will be rewarded when we can start playing padel again, whether in terms of performance, or injury prevention!

 

Xan is a fan of padel. But also of rugby! And his posts are just as punchy. Physical trainer of several padel players, he finds atypical posts or deals with current topics. He also gives you some advice to develop your physique for padel. Clearly, he imposes his offensive style as on the padel court!

On the same subject