Change the racquet for the “paddle” and leave disappointed: it happened to a Grand Slam champion who, when he took an important position in the world of paddle, realized the organizational disorder and the lack of collaborative spirit of his fellow managers. Tennis is something else, far superior, he admits.
For former Swedish tennis player Thomas Johansson, “tennis is much more organized”. What is happening today in professional paddle is an unfortunate “chaos” caused by the ego of “several people” that ends up affecting the players, said the 2002 Australian Open champion during an interview with CLAY.
Johansson was general manager of the APT Paddle Tour, one of the three tours that dominate the professional scene, owned by Monegasque businessman Fabrice Pastor.
The Swede held the position for a year and a half, from shortly after the tour’s founding until last June. He left, overcome by the impossibility of joining forces with the competition for the benefit of the sport and the athletes: “I wanted to make things a bit more collaborative between the circuits, to improve communication, but it was very difficult. Almost impossible because many of the people in top positions consider themselves more important than the sport itself.”
“I already had my spotlight as a tennis player, I don’t need to have it again. That’s why I tried to focus on growing padel, educating the players, caring about them and helping them. But as it is now, there are too many people who only care about themselves instead of the sport and that causes a lot of damage. Everyone knows who I’m talking about. In the end the players are the ones who are going to suffer,” criticizes Johansson, who in addition to a Grand Slam, holds the 1998 Davis Cup with Sweden and the silver medal in doubles in Beijing 2008 (defeat in the final against Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka).
