Andoni Bardasco offers us a somewhat special video: the analysis of a memorable point played in the semi-final of the Spanish Under-23 Championships in 2012. This match pitted Bergareche/Bardasco à Cepero/Navarro.

The founder of Padel Stuff and former player of the World Padel Tour delves into memories…

At Christmas, we often like to delve into our memories, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. In this meeting, you may recognize some players from professional circuit, at a time when they were still at the beginning of their career.

At the service you will see Paquito Navarro, then aged 23, associated with Alvaro Cepero (21 years old). On the other side of the net, I was playing at 19 with my partner Jaime Bergareche, who was the same age as Paquito. We will look at a point together, which I will then comment on to make a Detailed analysis.

Order in disorder

The point you just saw was crazy, but it illustrates a truth well: in the disorder, there is sometimes a form of order. This interests me particularly, and this is what we are going to analyze. To put it in context, I will give you the final result of the match: it is a match that I lost, like all my confrontations against Paquito in the Spanish Under-23 Championships. This time, it was in the semi-finals. In my defense, it must be said that Paquito has become world number one, and that he was four years older than me. This experience differential obviously worked in his favor.

The strategy behind every move

At one point in the rally, my partner attempted a lob over the glass, but the ball wasn't ideal. So we continued to play low balls until a high ball offered Cepero an opportunity on his backhand volley. He tried to put us in difficulty with a lob, forcing a delicate defense against the glass. Paquito, a true strategist, seized the opportunity to smash. A good smash is not only about hitting hard, but also about aiming with intelligence. In this case, Paquito chose to spike in parallel on my partner, who was smaller than me. However, he probably missed his target, because the ball went out of bounds, giving my partner a chance to defend.

Protect the center against the bajada from Paco: insufficient

After a nice recovery from my partner, the point continued with a complex rally. Paquito, true to his style, used a spin ball against the glass, causing an unpredictable bounce. In turn, I tried to restore order with a low ball, but it was ultimately a perfect lob of my partner who changed the dynamic. We knew that Paquito, with his famous "barada", could do damage. So we adjusted our positioning to cover the ground as best as possible, while deliberately leaving one side open to try to trap him. Unfortunately, he realized this and attacked this empty space, requiring an acrobatic move from my partner to keep the point alive.

A beautiful conclusion

This point illustrates how the paddle is a strategic sport, where every detail counts. I tried to surprise Paquito with a cross ball played to his feet, exploiting an angle left free. This caused an unpredictable bounce that offered me an opportunity for a smash, my favorite shot.

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovered padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since then, padel has been part of his life. You often see him touring France to cover major French padel events.

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