Rodrigo Ovide is a coach of professional padel players. Argentinian, he supervises the selection of his country. This experienced coach returns to the final of the WPT Mijas. Usually writing about the players he trains, he wanted for the first time, to write about the finalists Coki Nieto and Javi Rico. An interesting point of view.

When people of the greatness of Rodrigo Ovide give their point of view, whether you agree or not, it is always interesting to analyze their words.

His words go in the direction of 2 players, Jorge Nieto Ruiz and Javier Rico Dasi, who made a strong sensation this weekend in Mijas by reaching the final after having started in the first round of the final table in 1 / 16 final .

These two players, barely 21 years old, are proof that in an era where padel is played at an extraordinary speed, where the aim is to put pressure on opponents by taking the ball very early, where big, tall hitters impose their power and speed, there are nevertheless some diehards who keep this “old-fashioned” way of playing.

This way of playing, for those who could not follow the matches in streaming, is attrition. Extraordinary physical qualities, the ability to recover any ball, precision in the gesture, and ... very few direct errors. A very well-oiled strategy, an ability to cut trajectories, cross at the net to put the fastest players in a false position, that's old-school padel.

So of course we all agree that this performance is extraordinary, and that it is good to note the art and the way of playing this young male pair who has been playing together for years and who was still there. Year spent in qualifying and pre-qualifying tournaments of the WPT, but I allow myself to add my personal touch.

Most of the men's games were played at times of the day when there was a lot of heat, and the balls bounced strongly favoring fast-paced play. The case of Javi and Coki is different. They played their 1 / 4 and 1 / 2 final at the end of the day, when the heat was lower and the balls had less speed, favoring their game explained above.

The final being played late in the morning, the fast and powerful game of Galan and Lima will have done them more harm. I absolutely do not want to go back on the exceptional performance of these two players, but it should be noted that the conditions of a tournament are changing, sometimes favoring one pair rather than another; and this time Rico and Nieto will have benefited. A little luck plus a dose of extra adrenaline brought by the event, and this is the surprise of the tournament. In any case, congratulations guys.

Source: Rodrigo Ovide FB Page / World Padel Tour

https://www.facebook.com/rodrigo.ovide/posts/2819619944732469:0

Julien Bondia

Julien Bondia is a padel teacher in Tenerife (Spain). Columnist and advisor, he helps you play better through his tutorials and articles on padel tactics/techniques.

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