Do not miss the second part of our interview with the Director of Hello Padel. Very excited about the 'second chance' that this sport has given him, he will tell us about his return to the competition and about the news that we will find in the first portal dedicated to tell, 100% in English, everything that happens in the world of paddle.
Padel World Press .- After talking about his continuous trips to Europe, and after knowing what will be some of his main challenges facing this 2017, it is time to approach two very important facets for Mauri Andrini: professional competition and the great quality jump that your Hello Padel project has faced.
Trainer, monitor, UK coach and member of the HEAD Rebel Team, once again will show us the great passion with which he lives and works for and for the paddle.
This year we see you again in the World Paddle Tour Pre-Preview… What goals, at a sporting level, have you set for this campaign?
When I stopped competing in the 2001 year (with 18 years) I retired winning a Junior World Championship and was already playing at a professional level. After returning to take the shovel in London in 2013 the sensations of competition returned to be reborn. This 2017 I have decided to do better, train with professionals and repay the debt that was left pending. My goals are to do things well, not only on the court but before each game. Training, effort and work is what ultimately leads you to feel that you are really doing it conscientiously. I am working on the physical apparatus with an excellent group in Barcelona (Pádel Indoor Granollers) and with Gustavo Balquinta, a great and well-known physical trainer, with whom I maintain an excellent relationship. Looking at the results only would be easy, training on a daily basis is difficult.
The combination of trips, training, Hello Padel and competition are not an easy task. Today I have just turned 33 years old and it is time to do it. I am here to continue learning and I want to instruct myself in everything to always be a little better both as a player and as a person. It is a luxury to be able to compete in the World Paddle Tour Circuit. You lose money, you travel and you get tired, you train very hard ... But you enjoy it. That is why I say it is a luxury.
What do you think about the level from the Pre-Previas?
There are people who tell me "such a player entered the table when the Paddle Pro Tour". And I tell you that, at present, it is very likely that a player who previously did PPT previews did not even have a Ranking to enter to compete in the World Padel Tour. The paddle is already professional. In Argentina, in the 90s, paddle tennis was a fashionable sport, played by many fans. In Spain, in 2017, things are very different. Knowledge, technologies, supplements, trained coaches, Training Centers, Absolute Championships, Junior Championships ... In Spain more people play paddle tennis than ever. It is estimated that there are one 5 million people who practice this sport and, of them, at least 0,1% must be very good, right? (be careful, I only say 0,1 because there is no number lower than that). Let's calculate and well there you have ... At least 5000 paddle geniuses. If from there you count that less than 500 can compete in the WPT (by their Ranking in their Autonomous Communities or countries), you can already imagine the level of players in the entire WPT, from the Pre-Previews, Previews and Final Draw. It's amazing. In the previews of each championship, talents are seen that are perhaps not seen in the Final Draws. Paddle tennis will change little by little and the sport will become even more professional. What awaits us in a few years? I can't even imagine it.
What player, which pair are the ones that have most attracted your attention and why?
Players who are already 40 years old really catch my attention. Bela is 38 !! Number 1 in the world, Fernando Belasteguin no longer attracts my attention… He has surpassed her years ago. It doesn't quite enter my head as he has been able to stay at the top for 15 consecutive seasons. Speechless. As some of you know, I was born in Pehuajó, a town where Bela was also born, and we've known each other since I was 7 and he was 12 years old. Today I see what he does and I understand how and why he fights. The hunger to win hasn't changed him for anything.
I appreciate that Reca, Nerone, Juan Martin Diaz, Mati Diaz, Lamperti, Mieres, Willy Lahoz, Maxi Grabiel and Fernando Poggi have the strength, perseverance and wisdom to stay within a sporting environment so demanding and that have adapted to the great changes that this sport has experienced in every way in the last 20 years.
Honestly, no duo catches my attention. I really like to see couples achieve goals, perhaps changing their ways to become stronger. This is padel: the kindness, the companionship and the wisdom of understanding the other is what makes you a Team Builder. From here you start; at least at the advanced level.
We cannot forget about your Hello Padel project ... Did you expect when it took its first steps that it would come to have the importance it has today?
I always knew that people might be interested. I never imagined that it was going to be my lifestyle. I always say that things happen for something. I think that all the daily work we do is reflected in what, little by little, becomes more relevant. Hello Padel is already a fact and this is just beginning. We have been doing everything to our lungs, without asking anyone for anything ... No one has given us anything. And when I speak of 'us' I mean it for my best partner, my wife, who has left her legal profession to immerse herself in this project that has given us many satisfactions (and, why lie, several headaches and discussions) . We have done everything with passion and wanting to improve every day. We are a team and very strong. I think that is the basis of any successful endeavor. Dana is the best ally I have ever had. Partner, hard-working, enthusiastic and crazy about traveling, even if I do the trips. We are already some more in the team but with Dana I am all (and when I say everything, it is all) the day working on it. We are a constant synergy, we know each other so much that even she answers messages written to me and, when I see them, I think I was the one who answered.
You have just presented the new Hello Padel website… What can we find in it?
What can I tell you ... After more than a year of background work, design, collection of information from clubs worldwide, contact with all the Federations of the world ... And all in a language understandable to all ... For me, the new website It is spectacular. I always say that the owner of Coca-Cola drinks Coca-Cola and I, if I have to choose, I choose Hello Padel because I am proud. The hellopadel.org website came out on Monday, May 15. It will be the first platform in English where users can find not only news from emerging countries but all events worldwide, a large section of videos with interviews and paddle tennis lessons in English. Our star will be the 'Club Finder', a complete list of clubs worldwide. I leave it there ... Do not hesitate to visit it.
What challenges have you marked in Hello Padel for this season?
In this 2017, the purpose will be to establish the web as the reference medium at a global level. We want to support all those emerging countries and our website will be a very fluid and informative contact channel. Thanks to having spent the last 3 years traveling through more than 20 countries, I have been able to be in very close contact with people who really want a means to show what paddle tennis is and what happens with this sport worldwide. For ambitions there are many, to make them come true it costs hours of work and kilometers in the air ... So now to show why paddle tennis is growing. In my opinion Hello Padel is the faithful example that the sport grows and will continue to expand.
A sport that does not stop growing, that has more and more fans all over the world… What message would you like to convey to all the practitioners and followers of a sport that, in your case, is a true passion?
Some say "play paddle tennis just to have fun, not so much to compete" ... I believe just the opposite. The 'healthy' competition is the most beautiful thing for a person, whether adult or young. You want to play better, be a better partner, be better physically,… Always more and better. Take sport and fun seriously, respect, be understandable, fight for what is worth it, be loyal and never give up a ball ... Run after it and don't stop running until it hits the ground twice . I promise that one day you will be amazed at the results. The paddle will not stop growing. Believe me.
Thanks to all those interested in this article that Padel World Press has dedicated to me, to whom I have already thanked repeatedly and this is one more ... Thank you !!
Thanks everybody and Hello Padel to Everyone!
If you want to review the first part of this interview, you just have to click on this link.
* You can follow all the news of the world of paddle in our profiles of Facebook y Twitter as well as subscribe to our Newsletter .
