Thomas Leygue: “I made mistakes in 2023. They will serve me in 2024.”

From now on active international French number one, Thomas Leygue, looks back on his 2023 season with “ups and downs”. The Frenchman does not hesitate to tell us what happens in the life of a player, with the difficulties sometimes finding his place on the track, finding the right partner, and his association with Insa. We also returned to the “shock”: the sporting retirement of the 60th player in the world, Benjamin Tison.

But in the end, Thomas finished the season with a very honorable 87th place in the world (FIP ranking) and ambitions for 2024.

Nobody called me to play

The year started off badly for me. I started the year on the left with Marcos Cordoba, but it didn't go very well. We separated quite quickly, and I then experienced a little hole in confidence because I had a good ranking and no one called me to play, unlike at the start of the year, which was quite complicated.

I then went with Guillem Figuerola who was much lower ranked, it was a bit of a bet on the future. And there again, the lack of confidence in me, the fact that he relied too much on me, made the relationship complicated.

We separated after 2-3 months, despite some decent results.

Ferran Insa, it’s a good association

Then, I started the project with Ferran Insa, and it went very well, we had good results. This is the good news from this association.

Of course, I think I have progressed well on the tactical aspect, I still have better physical condition, so there are a lot of positives to take away in 2023, even if I would have liked to do better at the start of the year.

The mistake of starting on the left in 2023

I would have liked to start the season on the right. Today it is obvious that I have to play on the right. I made the mistake of starting on the left. For the rest, there is not much that will change, I will continue to train. You must always seek to improve, train better, eat better, sleep better. Despite some small faults to correct, I am looking for stability.

Having made mistakes allowed me to learn. I don't regret having committed them and if I had to do it again, I would do it. So, no regrets, of course.

I need to find stability

I knew I had stability issues. In 2022, I had a good start to the season, then a hole at the start of the year, before catching up towards the end. Finding stability is important to me.

I think I found it with my current partner. For now, I will continue with Bastien Blanqué in France and with Insa internationally.

Playing 25 tournaments seems enormous to me and it’s not just that…

Playing 25 tournaments already seems huge to me. The calendar is quite busy, with French tournaments, FIP tournaments and perhaps others. The schedule will therefore be very busy.

I hope to have a little more vacation than last year, but I will continue to train in the same way, with the same coaches and the same team.

Tison's departure: a shock

Le Ben's departure was a bit of a shock for me. I discussed it with him in Milan and I really didn't expect it. It was not the way I would have liked to become French number 1. I would have preferred to beat him rather than inherit his position following his retirement.

It's strange not to see him among us anymore. He was my main rival in France and a source of motivation. Not having him in the French team anymore will leave a big void, that’s for sure.

Finale-france-blanque-leygue-tison-bergeron-2022-Toulouse

I don't think anyone is in a good position to know if it's the right choice, if it's too early or too late. Only Ben can make this decision. If he took it, it’s because it’s the right choice for him. This will leave a hole in the padel French, but it will also help us. I hope everything works out well for him.

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovers the padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since padel is part of his life. You often see him touring France going to cover the major events of padel French.