The last  Alpine Paris Major women's wild-card  returned to  Marie-Amélie Dardaine and Clara Mansart The all-French pair will compete in the Roland-Garros qualifiers on September 6 and 7.

A choice that was not obvious simply by reading the waiting list.  Dardaine/Mansart were only 19th behind several pairs including French players. But their results in recent months, the strength of their joint project and their potential for improvement provide several keys to understanding the FFT's decision.

Four French candidates were in a better position.

At the time the list of registered participants was published,  Marie-Amélie Dardaine was ranked 174th in the world and Clara Mansart 210th. Their pair occupied the  19th place on the waiting list .

Louise Bahurel and Ivet Val Lopez were initially in 10th position, but Bahurel ultimately received a logical wildcard for the main draw. Once this pair was out of the picture,  four associations including at least one French woman remained ahead of Dardaine / Mansart  :

  •  Camille Sireix / Helena Wyckaert , 14th;
  •  Steffi Merah / Charlotte Soubrié , 16th;
  •  Lou Lambert Agosti / Kimy Barla , 17th;
  •  Manon Marcarie / Cassandra Senjean 18st.

The FFT therefore did not simply follow  the FIP ranking order  to assign this invitation.

A recent association that is already producing results

The main argument in favor of Dardaine / Mansart lies on the ground.

The two French women began building their joint project in the spring, and the results came quickly. By June, they were reaching the  FIP Silver semi-finals in Bandol .

A few days later at  FIP Silver of Narbonne They confirmed their place in the quarter-finals. Their journey notably included a victory against  Steffi Merah / Fiona Ligi , then against the 7th seed  Raquel Piltcher / Christina-Styliani Ntanou .

In July, a new final four at the  FIP Bronze from Dronten . Dardaine / Mansart notably produced a great performance against the 4th seed before confirming it in the quarter-finals.

Westerbork, further confirmation just before Paris

And their momentum didn't stop during the summer.

This weekend again, at  FIP Silver of Westerbork The French women reached the quarter-finals. They notably eliminated  Constança Gorito / Dora Chamli, seeded 9, 6/3 7/5 , before bowing out to the 4th seed after two close sets, 7/6 7/5.

Entry-list-Paris-Major-W-v2Download

The recent assessment thus becomes particularly clear:  semi-final at the FIP Silver Bandol, quarter-final in Narbonne, semi-final at the FIP Bronze Dronten and quarter-final at the FIP Silver Westerbork .

Four significant results obtained together in less than three months.

Two players aged 25 and 26 who are still improving

Age may also explain the choice of Federation.  Clara Mansart is 25 years old and Marie-Amélie Dardaine is 26 years old. .

Mansart has decided this season to give a new dimension to her sporting project. After working as a physiotherapist, she has chosen to put her professional activity on hold to  to devote themselves fully to padel .

His start to the season had already sent several signals: a  final at the P2000 in Bordeaux  then a round of 16 at the FIP Silver in Caen, even before the start of his association with Dardaine.

Dardaine, on the other hand, has more experience on the international circuit and is now ranked in the  174th world rank , compared to 210th place for Mansart according to the Paris Major list.

The decision then becomes easier to understand.

 Dardaine/Mansart were not the best-placed among the French candidates. , since four pairs including at least one French player were still ahead of them after the awarding of the wild-card to Louise Bahurel for the main draw.

But they present other arguments:  a 100% French pair already formed, four significant results on the FIP Tour in less than three months, victories against seeded players and two players aged 25 and 26 who still have room for improvement. 

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The FFT therefore seems to have favored  the sporting dynamics and the project's potential  rather than just a snapshot of the world rankings.

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovered padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since then, padel has been part of his life. You often see him touring France to cover major French padel events.

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