Lima's confession interview before playing with Tapia

World number 1 in 2014 with Juani Mieres then with Fernando Belasteguín from 2015 to 2017, Pablo Lima will play the 2021 season alongside Agustín Tapia, the Argentine phenomenon. Before the serious things started, the Brazilian granted a interview to the Italian site Mr Padel Paddle boarding, taken over by the Corriere dello Sport.

A auriverde exception?

The current world number 5 could not escape football when he was a child but he quickly preferred the path of the fields of padel : “I discovered it at 9 years old because my father played there. Brazil does not have a great relationship with racket sports". It is true that if Gustavo Kuerten put his country at the top of the world hierarchy, in particular by winning three Roland-Garros, the next generation is slow to arrive. Fortunately, actors are mobilizing to enable the development of padel in Corcovado country.

According to Lima, there is no shortage of good players, but they would have to take the risk of going into exile to promote the padel Brazilian more: “There has always been a large pool in Brazil but many players have decided not to go abroad. For example, Joao Pedro Flores is one of those young players who could achieve great results in Europe. Julio Julianoti and Stefano Flores are a strong pair in Brazil but I have the feeling that they didn't have the ambition to face the best. They are very good players who could compete in the World Padel Tour quietly". (Editor's note: these two players are competing for the APT Padel Tower and so we could soon see them at work in Europe)

Questioning

2020 really hasn't been a great year for the man with the 367 victories and 47 tournaments won on the World Padel Tour. Pablo Lima had never won so little. What to provoke a salutary introspection to start again in 2021: "JI think it's due to many factors. It was without a doubt the year in which I reached my highest level since I started playing. ButWhen you don't win, it means others have done better than you, you have to admit it”.

On the track, the Brazilian knows the points he needs to improve to once again achieve results that meet expectations : “I think I'm more tactical and disciplined. I believe all players are a mixture of different aspects. In my case, I have order in my game and I always try to give my best to make the pair work”.

Pair of fire with Tapia

First radical measure: Pablo Lima will no longer team up with Paquito Navarro. His duo did not have the result hoped for by the two players. The Brazilian takes stock of this association: "JI think the lack of continuity affected me more than anything else. With Paquito, we had high expectations as a pair, but we didn't perform as expected”.

For the coming season, Lima will be associated with Agustín Tapia and the prospect of seeing a South American partnership that goes beyond the rivalry between Brazil and Argentina is enough to make your mouth water. “Tapia is an extraordinary player, with both physical and technical potential. He can progress a lot. He will be a great actor for a very long time. Our objective is of course to fight and play for the top positions”. We can't wait for the WPT to resume to see this new association at work!