What a victory for  Thomas Leygue and Jesús Moya Having come through the Paris Major qualifiers, the Frenchman and the Spaniard have just delivered a top-level performance by eliminating  Juanlu Esbrí and Sanyo Gutiérrez , seeded 13th, after a completely crazy fight:  6/2 4/6 7/5 .

Facing two ranked players  22th and 24th in the world rankings including Sanyo  former world number 1 Leygue and Moya played without inhibition. They sometimes trembled, letting their opponents back into the game, but never stopped pushing forward. In a  Philippe-Chatrier in turmoil They achieved one of the most significant victories in French padel history. It was the first time a Frenchman had reached the round of 8 at Roland Garros.

An almost perfect first set

From the start of the match, Leygue / Moya showed that they were not there simply to enjoy the event.

À  1/1 They break their opponent's serve. The game plan is working perfectly:  millimeter chiquitas Moya's enormous presence in the aerial game and Leygue's ability to break through impressive defenses.

The double break arrives at  3/1 Esbrí / Gutiérrez do recover one of the two breaks, but Leygue / Moya do not doubt and immediately take back the opponent's serve.

Opposite,  Esbrí is going through a very difficult first set He touches the ball a lot and makes a lot of mistakes. Sanyo Gutiérrez also shows a lot of frustration with his partner's difficulties.

Leygue and Moya, meanwhile, continued to play their game of padel and logically took the first set.  6/2 .

At that point, the feat began to seriously take shape.

Esbrí / Gutiérrez turn their backs

The second round starts with the same momentum.  Leygue/Moya get a break point in the very first game without managing to convert her.

Then the roles reverse: Esbrí / Gutiérrez get opportunities in turn, but the Franco-Spanish pair resists.

And it was ultimately Leygue/Moya who struck first with a  white break Esbrí is still struggling and, on the other side of the net, the Frenchman and the Spaniard are perhaps producing their best padel since the beginning of their association.

But at  3/2 A slight lapse in concentration allows the 13th seed to come back.

The momentum is changing. Esbrí is gradually regaining his form, Gutiérrez is becoming more involved and Leygue / Moya are losing some of their control from the start of the match.

À  5/4 The Spanish finally break away and take the second set  6/4 .

While they seemed on the verge of elimination a few games earlier,  Esbrí / Gutiérrez simply waited for the storm to pass Everything needs to be redone.

A monstrous Leygue in the third

Losing this second set could have been very painful. It's quite the opposite.

Leygue/Moya immediately set off forward again and  break early in the third set .

And it's at this moment that Thomas Leygue takes on another dimension. Moya gets fewer touches? No problem. The Frenchman covers the court, defends, accelerates, and plays with tremendous intensity.

Esbrí / Gutiérrez get opportunities to come back, but the Franco-Spanish pair erase them.

À  3/2 However, a few hasty decisions allowed the Spanish to break back. Once again, Leygue and Moya could have started to doubt themselves.

Once again, they immediately launch another attack.

A completely crazy end to the match

From that point on, the encounter becomes unbearable.

Leygue/Moya regain the break and move within two games of pulling off an upset. But on a  star point Esbrí / Gutiérrez are back.

Immediate response:  new break from Leygue / Moya .

They then serve for the match. This time, Moya forces the smash a little too much and the 13th seed comes back again.

But this match never seems to follow a normal pattern. Behind,  Leygue / Moya break once again .

À  6/5 They therefore get another opportunity to contribute to a victory that is within their grasp.

This time, no trembling.

Esbrí and Gutiérrez commit unforced errors under pressure, the Philippe-Chatrier crowd rallies behind the Frenchman and  Jesús Moya finishes the job with a smash .

 6/2 4/6 7/5. Explosion on the Chatrier. 

Qualifying for the Round of 16 of a Major

To measure performance, you mainly need to look at where the return comes from  Thomas Leygue .

His season had started with difficulty after his return from injury. Few results, a ranking that had fallen sharply, and inevitably, time needed to regain his form.

But for several weeks now, the trend has completely reversed. Leygue is gradually regaining his best form and his reunion with  Jesus Moya His former partner, seem to have accelerated the process.

And their Paris Major perfectly tells the story of this rebirth.

Without a wild card,  Leygue / Moya had to fight for their place in the main draw on the track In the first round of qualifying, they had dominated  Miguel Lamperti / Ferran Insa 6/3 6/1 Then they won a huge fight against  Manuel Aragón Herrera / Albert Roglan Pons 7/5 4/6 6/4  to join the painting.

In the first round of the main draw, a new milestone was reached with a prestigious victory against  David Gala / Enzo Jensen, 7/6 6/4 Already a benchmark performance.

And this time, they've raised the bar even higher by eliminating  Esbrí / Gutiérrez .

 Four matches, four victories at Roland-Garros including two against pairs who were ranked much higher.

With this victory,  Leygue / Moya have already pocketed 195 FIP points , a huge operation that will allow them to  make a big leap in the world rankings .

Stupaczuk / Sanz to keep dreaming

The journey has become exceptional, but the challenge will be even greater in the round of 16.

Leygue / Moya will meet again  Franco Stupaczuk / Jon Sanz , seeded 4. A pair of a completely different caliber and a new test against players established among the world's best.

But after what they have just achieved, it is difficult to set a limit for the Franco-Spanish pair.

 Thomas Leygue is back to his best. Moya is playing with enormous confidence and their partnership is working wonderfully again. Against Esbrí/Gutiérrez, they mainly showed that they can suffer, lose momentum, and yet immediately bounce back.

And now,  The last Frenchman still in contention at the Paris Major is in the round of 16. .

Benjamin Dupouy

I discovered padel directly during a tournament, and frankly, I didn't really like it at first. But the second time, it was love at first sight, and since then, I haven't missed a single match. I'm even ready to stay up until 3am to watch a final of Premier Padel !

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