In this video, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga arrives with his tennis background, but also with the humility of a player discovering the subtleties of competitive padel. The pitch is simple: train, test the pair, then aim for a P500. The result is much richer than just entertaining content.
A tennis champion confronts the pitfalls of padel
Tsonga is not just any guest. The ATP recalls that he reached world No. 5, completed an 18-year career and retired from the French Open in 2022 after his last match against Casper Ruud. Naturally, when such an arm enters a court, you look at the smash before anything else.
But the video quickly shows that padel doesn’t give you a free pass. Tsonga admits he has never played in a tournament, although he explains that he has already played quite a bit in Lyon. Very soon, the serious subjects come up behind the jokes: compact gestures, slice volleys, replacement, reading the glass, communicating with the partner.
When Tsonga switches to x3 smashes, his tennis DNA is obvious: power, timing, release. But padel requires something else: choosing the spin, aiming for the grid, accepting to build. Even his partner recaps it humorously after a hot point: “You’re a gardening tool. You cut.”
Tsonga and padel, a history already well established
This is not an isolated appearance. There’s already a public video entitled All In Padel – One Day With Jo Wilfried Tsonga, a sign that Tsonga has been frequenting the padel court for several years. He also took part in an exhibition in Saint-Tropez with Johan Bergeron, against players associated with the APT Padel Tour.
Tsonga’s commitment goes well beyond the realm of leisure. Alongside Thierry Ascione, Anthony Lopes, Patrick Bouchet and Johan Bergeron, Tsonga was part of the All In Padel Lyon-Décines project, presented from 2021 as a 2,500 m² indoor center with 6 padel courts. In the same interview, he explained that, after his career, he wanted to “inspire others to play”.
The All In Country Club de Lyon-Décines confirms this bridge between tennis, training and padel: the official website announces 17 tennis courts, 10 indoor padel courts, a student campus, a fitness area and top-level facilities. In other words, Tsonga isn’t just a guest discovering the sport: he’s part of an ecosystem that wants to structure it.
This is also what makes the video so interesting from a sporting point of view. Tsonga has all the natural weapons of tennis: serve, hands, volley, smash and a sense of duel. But he still has to come to terms with what makes padel unique: the pair, the lob, patience, low defense, the glass and that constant management of space.
The most lucid sentence comes at the end: “No matter what, we won’t have any margin.” For a P500, that’s exactly the right frame of mind. Talent can win spectacular points, but consistency, communication and tactics win matches. Tsonga retains his aura, his arm and his sense of show. Padel, on the other hand, reminds him that a great champion can also become a pupil.
