Ale Galán in Sweden: ”Never been close to a separation — the idea is to play together next season”

Alejandro Galán and Juan Lebrón were the kings of the tour again this season with six titles. Then something happened. 

Now the team hasn't won since the Menorca Open. Ahead of the final tournament, the Masters Final in Madrid, the giants could lose the top spot in the world rankings if Paquito Navarro and Martin Di Nenno finish better. 

Padel Alto sat down with Alejandro Galán during the Malmo Padel Open in Sweden. The pair´s results have since then been bad, which may have changed their willingness to continue working together. 

But in Sweden, Alejandro Galan was determined to continue playing with Juan Lebron. 

— No, no. We have never been close to a separation. The idea is to play together next year, Ale Galán said to Padel Alto after asking about a possible separation between the stars. 

In the Malmo Open, the pair were knocked out by Agustin Tapia and Sanyo Gutiérrez in a thriller in the semi-finals. After that, the results have not been good. 

In Buenos Aires, they were knocked out in the semi-finals, and in the Mexico Open, they were already out in the quarter-final. Rumors have therefore been circulating about a separation between the giants.

Among other things, Alejandro Galán has been paired with super-talent Arturo Coello as early as next year. However, Coello's current partner Fernando Belasteguin denies this, stating that the pair will continue next season. 

Something Padel Alto was the first to report in an interview with Fernando Belasteguin. 

”A quite difficult season”

In Malmö, he pointed out the importance of continuing as number one. Something that is threatened for the Masters Final in Madrid. 

He is not entirely satisfied with the season this year despite six titles. 

— It's been quite a difficult and even season, with many pairs winning titles, he says. 

For Alejandro Galán, padel came into his life very early. With a sister who also plays on the World Padel Tour, Alba Galán, the kids in their neighborhood started playing together. 

— Padel was starting to be organized where I lived, and a lot of kids were playing — I started when I was five, six years old. When I was seven, I started competing in my city, Madrid.

Then the star started playing national youth tournaments in Spain. Where he met with his current partner, Juan Lebrón, from Andalusia for the first time.

— We met each other when we started playing national youth tournaments. We have known each other since we were kids and now we usually go out for dinner together. We celebrate together when the results are good. We are close to each other, Ale Galán says. 

”The sport is professionalizing and evolving.” 

In both Argentina and Mexico, the women were missing. And an ongoing discussion in padel circles is the inequality in padel. 

— There is currently a difference. What do I think about it? Well. It's a theme for the sport. It's a private circuit, and it's a negotiation situation. It's a wonderful and spectacular sport, but I don't know all the numbers around the sport between men and women. I think we're on our way anyway. The sport is professionalizing and evolving. 

He continues: 

— You might wish that the prize money was higher for each match, but it´s padel. There's not much money, but it's evolving now, he says. 

An upcoming question is which tour the world elite players will play for in the future. Currently, the players have contracts until the end of the 2023 season with the World Padel Tour. But several actors are interested in being the organizer after that, or earlier. 

These include the Players Padel Tour, the APT Padel Tour, and most recently, the President of Paris Saint-Germain, Nasser Al-Khelaifi.

— It's good for the sport, that there is interest. The sport is growing, and there is interest from different actors. The ideal would be if we all worked together to make the sport more professional and make the best conditions for the players, Galán says. 

”An association is needed.”

In order not to end up in the same situation as in 2018, when APT Padel Tour's strongman Fabrice Pastor challenged the World Padel Tour and where some players were on Pastor's side and others on the World Padel Tour's side, the men's players have organized themselves and created an association. 

Alejandro Galan was highly involved in creating an association, and he is now the Chairman.

—  It is needed. To represent the players' interest and give the players the best conditions and be more united. We have not been that historically, he says. 

Last year, Alejandro Galan and Juan Lebron were the big giants of the tour, a year marked by Covid-19. But in the most important tournament of the year: the Masters Final, they lost to Agustin Tapia and Fernando Belasteguin in the final. 

Three pairs have now emerged as big favorites for the final tournament of the year. Along with Alejandro Galan and Juan Lebron, the pairs Paquito Navarro / Martin Di Nenno and Sanyo Gutierrez / Agustin Tapia are the favorites for the title. 

— Our goal for the rest of the season is to continue as number one. We need to stay focused and play at our high level. We have good rivals, so we have to focus on every match, Alejandro Galan says.