Nederlands
There is a slight breeze of change at the World Padel Tour. There is a guard of young challengers. Some of their names are known to the public. Some, a bit less. Paquito, Lebron, Tapia, Chingoto, Stupaczuk, Galan, Capra, Belluatti and Tello. And the biggest Padel Rebel of all: Sanyo. For the first time in a long time, there seems to be a serious revolution in professional padel.
For 16 years there has been a king of Padel: Belasteguin. Look at his stats –excluding the extinct Padel Pro Tour circuit-. 324 played matches. 301 won. He has been unchallenged. But a chain of recent events have come to question his no.1 position. “Bela” has 13770 ranking points. “Sanyo” 12545. There are only 1225 ranking points separating “Bela” from “Sanyo”. As a reference, championship at a WPT Master Tournament grants 1700 points to the champion and 1020 to the finalist. It has never been closer.
Consider the recent injuries and misfortunes of Bela (and his teammate Lima) and their results. In 2018, Bela has claimed championship only one time. Sanyo three. And most concerning even is the fact that Bela’s trainer, legend Horacio Alvares Clementi, who has taken his position only one year ago, resigned yesterday after Bela’s sudden defeat at the quarterfinals of the Jaen Open World Padel Tour.
Bela knows it. Sanyo wants his no.1 spot, really bad. And the many other young guys as well. But we all know Bela better. He performs best under pressure. Bela is not just a king. He is in reality a gladiator wearing a crown. His reign is not close to over.
