Dubai 2022 World Cup: French bronze medal

The 3^rd world nation: "It was our final".

Padel Magazine interviews French team players

The French team is interviewed for the first time as world number 3, just after its victory over Portugal in Dubai. The members of the French team give us their hot answers after their incredible performance. Strong, moving words.

Benjamin Tison

"Our final goal is to finish 3rd in the world championships. We can't be on the same level as Spain and Argentina today. We've been playing padel for 6 or 7 years, when they've got 40 behind them.
It's proof that we're an exceptional group. What we've done is incredible.

The eight of us fought like dogs. Everyone played. And Pablo (the coach) and Vivien (the physiotherapist) contributed greatly to these results.
With the girls, we're a great group. And not many countries can say that."

Bastien Blanqué

"Adrien and Ben played a great game against the Portuguese in 1. We owe them a lot. Scat and Jo had a great game too.

We love decisive matches. We're 3 for 3 this week. We played our game, we played with intensity. We had a player on the left who was a little weaker than Miguel Oliveira, so we played on him.

In my diagonal, I think I had a very good game. Thomas was very solid."

Thomas Leygue

"I didn't think we'd manage to get this medal. I'm really happy. Normally, Spain, Argentina and Brazil take the top three places. When we saw that Portugal had beaten Brazil, we said to ourselves that there was something to be done.

When we took to the field, we were in warrior mode. We were there to win. I'm so happy for the whole team."

Jérémy Scatena

"We created a group in 2018. This is the 3rd time all together. In padel, we're the 3rd world nation, but I think in terms of team, we're the world champions. We know how to say things to each other.

We know how to remove the little tensions between us to go as far as we can. I'm proud of the team.

Well done, guys."

Adrien Maigret

"We have to thank those who supported us, behind their screens and those who made the trip.
I think we deserve this bronze medal.
We went and got it."

Max Moreau

"I'm envious of dreaming. I hope we'll be able to confirm that for the next Worlds, and hope to do even better. But we'll take it step by step. We'll see how things evolve."

Johan Bergeron

"We were aiming for 4th place. That's always the objective of the French team. Brazil loses to open another door for us. A 2nd championship has opened up for us."

Jérôme Inzerillo

"I think the French team's training camp helped create the group. And Pablo had a lot to do with that.

You can see it in this competition. All the players have been incredible. Even those who didn't play. Max didn't play, but he was right behind us. I'm very happy to be part of this team."

Review and final ranking

The 2022 Padel World Championship came to a close in Dubai, with the Argentinian team winning the final. Fernando Belasteguin and his team-mates took their revenge on the Spaniards, who won in Qatar in 2021, in an epic confrontation. The crowds at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium were able to appreciate the talent of the world's best players, with some crazy points throughout the final. The quality of the organization of this World Championship is also to be commended. Indeed, the players were pampered throughout the week with conditions of the highest standard, and this is all the more impressive when you consider that the United Arab Emirates only had a month to prepare!

In the girls' category, Spain confirmed its stranglehold on world padel by once again disposing of the Albiceleste in the final. Behind these two padel heavyweights, Italy repeated the feat in the women's event with another medal, but had more difficulty in the men's. The French were the only team to win a medal. On the French side, it was exactly the opposite: the boys surprised everyone with a bronze medal, while the girls had a complicated competition.

Portugal confirmed its status as one of the world's leading padel nations in its comeback, as did Belgium, which has made great strides in just one year. Sweden also had a fine tournament in the girls' category, and we hope to see the return of their men's team at the next edition! The biggest disappointment of the tournament was Brazil, which lost four places in the women's category and two in the men's category compared with last year.

The South American nations, who are now lagging behind Europe, are generally behind. The nations of the Africa-Asia zone close the gap.