Born almost by accident in an Acapulco garden, padel has in fifty years become a global phenomenon that both fascinates and worries tennis. Its meteoric rise is already reshaping the landscape of racket sports.
Exhausted but omnipresent stars, ever-longer tournaments and exhibitions that have become a business in their own right: tennis is revealing its deepest contradictions, torn between spectacle and physical survival.
Omnipresent cameras, line judges on the verge of extinction, mistakes that persist nonetheless: technology fascinates as much as it divides. Tennis, at a crossroads, is still searching for its balance between progress and emotion.
The Limoges crowd believed it: two Frenchwomen in the semifinals was possible. But only Elsa Jacquemot prevailed on Friday, after a stunning match. Friedsam, Bucsa, and Kalinina complete an unpredictable final four.
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Top 5 Thursday 18
