Hugounenq / Coulombeau bring down Bergeron / Fonteny: "We want more"

This is one of the big moves of these French Championships 2026 . Arthur Hugounenq and Alexis Coulombeau knocked out in the quarter-finals Johan Bergeron and Timéo Fonteny , two players recently selected in France team and who were among the expected pairs in the title race.

A victory secured after a hard-fought match by the underdogs. A few minutes after qualifying for the semi-finals, Hugounenq and Coulombeau reflected on this performance in an interview with [source missing]. Padel Magazine.

"We really stuck to our tactical plan."

Arthur, you just delivered a very strong performance. How do you analyze this match?

Arthur Hugounenq:
It was a really big match. We're really happy. Tactically, we stuck to our game plan with Alex very well. We hardly ever deviated from it, and I think that's what allows us to win these kinds of matches.

Afterwards, I think they weren't playing their best match either. We have to acknowledge that. In terms of overall level and results, they've shown they're ahead of us. But to manage to do that here and to show that level of play with Alex, that's truly fantastic.

We are very, very happy with our level.

Coulombeau, consistency at the heart of the achievement

Alexis, Arthur pulled off some incredible shots, but you, on the other hand, displayed impressive consistency for almost the entire match. How did you experience that?

Alexis Coulombeau:
Frankly, we played an excellent match. As Arthur said, tactically we played really well and above all, we managed to maintain our guiding principles from A to Z That was the most important thing.

I did have a few low points, though. It happened in every match I've played since the start of the competition. In the first round, for example, we were down 5-2 with a double break in the second set. I also had a tougher stretch in the following match.

Even today, there was a slight lull in the second set.

Arthur Hugounenq:
But that doesn't necessarily mean we played badly at that moment. They also went out and got the points.

Alexis Coulombeau:
Exactly. It wasn't necessarily a bad game on our part. At certain key moments, they were the ones who raised their game. But the main thing is that we managed to hold on until the end and snatch this victory.

A second set where everything could have changed.

The scenario could have been cruel for Hugounenq and Coulombeau .

With a break advantage, then a break back, before serving for the match, the two men could have seen the match slip away. Facing two French national team players, the momentum even seemed to be able to completely reverse in the event of a third set.

But in the tie-break, Hugounenq and Coulombeau refused to give in.

After being down by a mini-break, they came back to finish a spectacular match on a match point, reflecting their performance: committed, audacious and spectacular.

"We didn't just win the French Championships."

After a match like that and a victory against two players from the French team, how do you come back down to earth and already think about the semi-final?

Arthur Hugounenq:
That's exactly what I told Alex directly after the match. We're savoring our victory, of course, but We haven't just won the French Championships. This is only a quarter-final.

Sure, we beat Timéo and Jo, who have both just been selected for the French team. So for us, it's huge.

I think it's a victory reference For me, it might even be one of my greatest victories of the year. Probably for Alex too.

And of course, managing to do it here, at the French Championships, is even more impressive.

But now there's a semi-final to play in a few hours. We need to regroup, go to the physiotherapist, recover, eat, and do things properly to be at our best again.

We want more.

Coulombeau now wants to establish his own name

The performance also had a special flavor for Alexis Coulombeau whose name is regularly confused with that of Alix Collombon , French number 1.

Alexis, after such a performance in front of an audience, perhaps no one will confuse Coulombeau and Collombon anymore?

Alexis Coulombeau:
Even my partner was saying that! We were just talking about it with Thomas Seux, Thomas Vanbauce, and Max Joris. It's sometimes hard to tell them apart because their names sound so similar.

She is the number 1 French player, so inevitably the comparison comes immediately and I am sometimes called Collombon.

But perhaps after today, Things are going to start changing a little bit. I hope so!

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.