Belasteguin’s last dance in Mar del Plata “Great emotions. I will never finish saying thank you”

The day of Fernando Belasteguin’s last professional match in Argentina has arrived. Paired with Juan Tello, Bela was defeated 6-3 6-1 by the top two ranked players, Arturo Coello and Agustin Tapia. But the fans at the Polideportivo Islas Malvinas were all for him: many in tears, all standing for the tribute to one of the best players of all time. The emotion of experiencing such an evening was described directly by Belasteguin: “I lost, but inside I have a feeling of calm – his words –. I started playing in Mar del Plata in 1995, I’m playing my last tournament here after 30 years. My best memory? Every time I have been here with my family. There is not much time during the year to do that, and when you have the feeling of being a father you start to understand many things”.

Already in the previous two matches of the Mar del Plata Premier Padel P1, Belasteguin had been the most acclaimed, and on the court Bela had repaid with two marathons that lasted three sets each: “I will never finish thanking the people and the fans for the respect I received. I will thank them one by one. I said that during your career you can make mistakes: I too have made mistakes, but the people have never stopped showing me love”.

If Bela’s career in Argentina is over today, there are still many goals before saying goodbye to padel: tournaments on the Premier Padel circuit, but also the FIP World Padel Championships in Doha. “There are four months left, in which I will give everything to be there, as always: I will continue to train as I have always done, and if I don’t get called up, I hope to at least give the coaches a chance to doubt”.

Belasteguin will remain an icon, an example for the young players: “The only thing I know about progress in life is working: there is no ball that pays for the feeling of having worked every day of your life, and that’s what I told my children. Of my career I would not change anything: neither the good things nor the mistakes, because all the decisions I have made in my life have been thought out. I started in professional padel, today it is a totally different padel, but I am very happy to see where the sport has come”. And if padel has reached this point, the credit is also due to Fernando Belasteguin.