What will the 2021 season hold for the greatest player of all time, Argentina's Fernando Belasteguin? After a season and a half alongside Agustin Tapia (21), crowned with a superb victory last December in the final Master of Menorca, the one who was world No. 1 for sixteen years joins forces with another ex-number 1 , Sanyo Gutierrez.
The latter being a right-wing player - the best in the opinion of many - Bela should therefore logically regain full time his preferred position, left side.

In 2020, Bela and Tapia have muddled the waters

Yet the association with Tapia has evolved Bela's game for over a year. Between August 2019 and July 2020, the XNUMX-year-old, not sufficiently recovered from an Achilles tendon injury, was forced to play right for the first time in his career, letting his young partner express his smash power, speed of movement and superior ground coverage.

But Bela was not completely at ease on the drive side. After confinement, which allowed him to regain his physical fullness, “The legend of Pehuajo” has found his favorite side, at least in defense… Indeed, very quickly, the two players began to muddy the waters at times, switching their positions in attack as Paquito Navarro and Juan Lebron had done in 2019, then Lebron and Galan in 2020.

weeping belasteguin tapia master menorca 2020 victory

An organization  "Tennis way" which worked well especially during the final of the Master Final 2020 : on the way back, Bela was on the left and Tapia on the right; on serve, the volleyball player was placed to the left when the server engaged on the player on the right, and to the right during the engagement on the backhand. A winning bet since the “boss” and the “Mozart de Catamarca” delivered an extraordinary game, winning 6-3 7-6 against the pair who had dominated the entire 2020 season!

What will happen in 2021 for the Belasteguin-Gutierrez pair?

In return, it is evident that Bela will stay on the left and Sanyo on the right. In service, it would be surprising if Gutierrez passed to the left, he who is a pure right-wing player, from where he perfectly masters the game and the geometry of the field. However, when he has to switch during the rally, “El Mago” is often very comfortable on the backhand side. So we say to ourselves that he could sometimes relieve his compatriot a little, as Tapia did ...

For the moment, there is no indication that Gutierrez can sometimes pass to the left in attack. On the other hand, it is quite likely that he frequently encroaches towards the center or the left to unleash winning smashes, on balls where Belasteguin would be content with waiting shots.

Sanyo Gutierrez backhand world padel tour
But if these two players remain in a “classic” pattern, Belasteguin risks feeling the weight of the years. As trained and sharp as he is, the XNUMX-year-old Argentinian is no longer as mobile and as powerful as those who will be in his diagonal. The game has indeed evolved a lot since 2018, with the best players growing taller, athletic and physically trained.

In defense, Bela's fantastic vision of the game, the precision of his returns and his lobs always allow him to compete with the best, even to tame them. A downside, however, he no longer has a vertical trigger comparable to those of Galan, Lebron or Tapia, able to recover balls at nearly 3,50 m, directly above the net.

The topspin smash, the weapon Bela lacks

In attack, Bela can always count on his sharp volley, his bajadas overpowered, his reflexes intact and his bandejas bouncing very low. On the power side, his flat smash remains effective when he hits him in the ideal position, but he lacks a lethal weapon: the topspin smash that goes back very high.
Made with an impact very close to the opposite wall, it ensures - thanks to the topspin effect amplified by the proximity of the glass - that the ball spurts very high towards the smasher's camp, lobbing the best defenders in the process. In the top 10, those who manage to do it best from the bottom of the track are certainly Jebron Lebron, Agustin Tapia and… Sanyo Gutierrez!

Perfectly aware of this shortcoming, Belasteguin is looking for solutions. As we said recently,Argentinian announced on Facebook it work this shot every day, hoping to get the ball up really high. Achieving this involves first adopting the right racquet grip, then arching the back very important and brushing the ball behind the head, while instilling a strong push from the legs. The best example in this area is undoubtedly Juan Lebron, able to pull off this shot from the last few centimeters of the track!

Lebron and his smashes
Is it possible that Belasteguin acquires this weapon at 42? That's all we want him to do, so that the "king" will continue to surprise us for a long time to come. And if he does not succeed, he can always count on his partner's arm ...and on faster tracks?

After 40 years of tennis, Jérôme falls into the pot of padel in 2018. Since then, he thinks about it every morning while shaving… but never shaves pala in hand! Journalist in Alsace, he has no other ambition than to share his passion with you, whether you speak French, Italian, Spanish or English.

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