Former rival about coaching Bela: ”Studied him a thousand times”

Juani Mieres is one of the greatest padel players of all time. Earlier this year, he decided to quit his career and is now 100% committed as a padel coach. Most recently, he appeared on former rival Fernando Belasteguin's bench. 
— We have had a relationship for many years, says Mieres. 

After a long and successful career, Juani Mieres has retired as a player. But the Argentinian will remain in the sport of padel. 

Like his brother, Diego Mieres (national coach of the Netherlands), Juani Mieres is now focusing on a career as a coach. Something that started even before he played his last professional game.

— I have been coaching Ivanxo (Ivan Ramirez) since January, and he generally takes what I say very well. The key is that he understands that I only want his best. 

He continues:

— Pablo García, for example, I have only worked with for a short time, but I see him as a good listener and eager to learn, just like Mike Yanguas, with whom we have just started. It is also very nice for him because he is in the crucial moment to go to the top level.

Mike Yanguas plays with Fernando Belasteguin. A player that Juani Mieres has met many times in various finals on both the World Padel Tour and its predecessor, the Padel Pro Tour.

On Bela's bench

Juani Mieres coached on his old rival's bench in the Finnish Open WPT tournament. 

— I have competed against him for many years and know him perfectly. I have studied him thousands of times, and now I am trying to help him with some things I think he needs to work on. We have had a relationship for many years. We came here at the same time to make a living.... People may think there is bitterness, and it is even logical because when I played against him, I wanted to kill him (laughs).

In the interview with Marca, the former superstar talks about his time among the world's elite, where he formed successful pairs with Lamperti, Pablo Lima, Sanyo Gutierrez, and Ale Galan.

Padel: Now and then

He also talks about how padel as a sport has changed. Something that Juan Martin Diaz also talked about in previous interviews, where he said that he liked the padel of the past better.

— There is a lot of discussion about this, it's true. I like the previous one, which was more about preparation and position. You had to think more and be more intelligent on the court.

And about today, he says:

— It's very explosive. They smash from all positions. I'm not saying it's better or worse, but many people liked the old padel more because there were more different strokes, and maybe it was more like the sport that the amateurs played. It's a brutal physical display, but yes, you can see spectacular smashes that were almost unthinkable before. I stick to the old days. Like I said, now you can't even hit a lob because they hit it from all positions. Nowadays, padel is more spectacular, but it was more elaborate in the past.