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Vienna Padel Open: These lobs!

The impressions from the first days of the Vienna Padel Open can be summarized as follows: This sport is fun to watch. And invites you to do it yourself.

by tennisnet.com
last edit: Jun 11, 2022, 09:05 pm

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By Jens Huiber from Vienna

The days at the Vienna Padel Open have left their mark. The level of the world class is impressive, you just have to see it live. A few landmarks...

The World Padel Tour relies on combined events right from the start, men and women not only compete in the same place in the STEFFL Arena for the big titles on the tour. The pace for the men is naturally higher, the tactical finesse on both sides is equally high.
Speaking of which: those lobs! In one of his rightly forgotten early works, Mike Krüger once wrote: "L, O, B, just as you spell it, that's a ball that stays up for a long time." And the balls stay in the air for a long time, but not out of distress, but as a profitable strategic means.
If you also want to learn something from the pros: almost all serves go to the outside. This pushes the respective opponent against the wall and puts the server in a better position.
Good padel pairs, like good relationships, work particularly well because of one lubricant: communication! "Take him, I'll have him for sure" - the classic misunderstanding on the court has no place in world-class padel, the information about who is where is just flying through the boxes.
Coaching is not only allowed, but expressly desired. And that with every rally. Almost everyone uses it, including tournament favorites Juan Lebron and Alejandro Galan.

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A shot clock also runs, giving the players 20 seconds between rallies. In the event of non-compliance, the referee will give a gentle hint. Without sanctions.
There are basically no ball children, where should they be placed on the court? But: a wustel is not enough to contest a best-of-three match. The unused game balls are placed on the side of the net posts. Pretty uncomplicated.
And then how the players interact with each other! Splendid! If Arturo Coello wants to incorporate a small smash drill when warming up, then his opponent will lay 28 high balls on him. Where is the problem.
Oh yes, there is indeed a problem. Because after just a few minutes of watching the game, you feel the urgent desire to storm the padel court yourself. Maybe it's a good thing that the interested party has to restrain himself here. Because even if the sense of achievement comes faster in padel than in other racket sports: it won't be as smooth as the pros in Vienna these days.