There is no doubt that it is one of the great figures of the current padel. The Argentine is the undisputed leader of the WPT Ranking and has won six of the seven titles that have been played during the current season. After dominating for 13 years the world padel with Juan Martín Díaz, he seems willing to continue enlarging his legend.
Padel World Press .- He does not know what 'to conform' means. In his vocabulary, the word relaxation does not exist. Competitor born; every time he enters the track he does it with the same objective: to win. Of equal the round that is, it does not matter the rival that has in front, it does not matter that to achieve it it has to leave the skin. Only victory passes through his mind.
2015 is 20 years since his debut as a professional, where he had as his first teacher Roberto Díaz, the 'Pelado', as he affectionately calls him and that, as a curious note, it should be noted that he is the father of Matías and Godo. Throughout these two decades, Pehuajó has won the 188 finals of the 238 that he has played, most of them along with Juan Martín Díaz (170). This campaign, along with a new partner, Pablo Lima, the truth is that it still has that same 'vice': that of winning.
World Padel Tour partners offer us a great interview in which Bela ceases to be that impenetrable and distant wall that he shows on the field for, in the short distance, to reveal himself as a close, very familiar, homelike and practitioner of the most difficult profession ... that of being a father. "I have no words to describe what Fede, Sofi and Bea represent. When people see us playing, they think that we are machines, but we have our feelings. There is no day when I stop fighting and improve thinking about them, I want to be an example every day. They are the engine of my life and I face this profession that is the most difficult, that of being a father, because you never finish learning it. "
Of course, as soon as the conversation approaches the sports field, the figure of the born winner reappears, that of that young man who at the age of 15, in his hometown, began to practice this sport to "be able to travel through Argentina" ... Surely he never imagined that 20 years later he would be the great figure of paddle tennis worldwide and, among others, he would have won 9 Silver Olympics (a prize awarded annually by Argentine journalists) and those that are yet to come. if it continues at this level.
It is no secret that, after 13 unforgettable campaigns with Juan Martín Díaz, the great unknown was knowing what would happen after their separation. Bela soon showed that life is the same for him. He was right with the election of Pablo Lima, whom he considers: "A more complete player than me. It has more things and is very solid. Also, having him in Barcelona training every day allows me to learn more about him. " However, do not forget that the project was able to collapse to the three parties to start. "Pablo's injury in Barcelona was a very hard blow. The first diagnoses spoke of an operation and it all came down. Luckily, it was only two months and it has returned better than ever. "
A very complicated test
As soon as he knew his teammate's absence, the HEAD player began to look for an 'alternative' solution, a 'Plan B' so as not to remain inactive the same time as his partner ... The bet could not have been better: "When I called Willy to play in San Fernando and La Palma, I did not think we could do so well ... But it is very easy to play with him. Then it was difficult to know what would happen to Pablo and things have been better than we expected. "
Despite having won in extremis the final of Valladolid, after three tie breaks against Paquito and Matías, or the last two duels in Mallorca and Malaga against his former teammate and Maxi Sánchez, Bela considers that: "The most important victory of this year has been that of Río Gallegos in Argentina. It was special because Pablito was back and he had a lot of pressure to do it well. That's why winning the first tournament together has been the best thing so far. "
Asked about the best memory of his career, he did not hesitate for a single second: the victory in the 2004 World Championship, which was played in Argentina. “They had just operated on my mother, I left her at the hospital and went to play. Besides, winning against my people, my friends and my first coach, Pelado Díaz, is something I will never forget ”.
A whole character inside the track
There is a lot of difference between the player we can see on the court and the person who lives his daily life normally. Bela himself assured: “Even I am surprised to see myself so crazy. When I'm calm at home and I watch the games, I can't believe it. If I am cold and you ask me which is the best player, I can name six or seven teammates… But if you ask me when I am on the court I will answer that the best is me. It is my way of playing and understanding my work ”.
Are rivals afraid of you? "What they have is a tremendous desire to win" ... And how is Belasteguin beat? "If I had to face him, I have a clear idea of how to beat him. Likewise, with the large number of thinking heads, players and coaches that there are, very soon they will find me back ".
On his recent victory in Malaga, he said: “Turning the first set was to Pablo's credit. I was not feeling well, I wanted to close the points quickly and I was not respecting the essence of our game. We saved that 5-0 ball, we broke down and then we were true to our style. In the second set we risk everything to close it with my serve and new balls in the ninth game. If it didn't go well, we were lost, because physically I couldn't take it anymore… I had very hard quadriceps ”.
In spite of this triumphant streak, it is difficult that with Lima they can match that mark of 21 months without losing that reached with Juan Martín between 2005 and 2007. In that period they won 22 tournaments in a row. "That is something difficult to repeat, especially for an age issue. Now I have 10 more years and physically it shows. We do not think about those things either. This is another stage. "
Finally, when referring to the evolution of professional padel, he stressed: "Everyone, players and fans have to be aware that we are living the best stage. World Pádel Tour is a dream for players who have gone through different times. Whoever says there was a better Circuit is lying. "
This is Bela, a genius inside the track and a real figure outside of it.
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