Padel bids farewell to Belasteguin. Carraro: “Thank you for making us fall in love”. Bela: “Thank you president for making it a global sport”

Eyes glazed over, a flashback of a 30-year career in just a few minutes, the Milan audience feeling privileged to live a moment like this. Padel said goodbye to Fernando Belasteguin, who after his defeat two days ago against Javi Garrido and Lucas Bergamini said goodbye to padel played. A padel that saw him number 1 in the world for 16 years, with 230 titles that made him one of the most successful sportsmen of all time.

With Fernando, at the ceremony that the Milano Premier Padel organisation wanted to simply call ‘Grazie Bela’ precisely to express this feeling, was the president of the International Padel Federation, Luigi Carraro. “Today I am one of you – his words -. Today is a day of great celebration but also of great emotion: it is the day of Fernando Belasteguin’s farewell to the court. Bela, the person whose exploits allowed us to fall in love with this sport. We will be grateful for life to Fernando, the player who is, was and will be the greatest in history, but who today is a great husband, a great father and a great man. Thank you from all of us”.

Three rackets are brought onto the ‘pista’ of the Allianz Cloud by the tournament’s ballkids, then the images of a legendary career run on the big screen above. Bela and Carraro roll their eyes, then it is time for words. “Thank you, President Carraro, for transforming padel and making it a global sport – he says -. And the great respect I have for you is based precisely on the passion you have for padel. My career ended in Italy, a country that makes me feel like I am in Argentina. We are very similar, for the love for family and for the passion. A passion that has helped us turn padel into one of the most important sports in the world. Together we have shown that we can make padel grow. Keep supporting the players, and tell your friends to play padel”.

Demetrio Albertini, Esteban Cambiasso and Francesco Totti, the protagonists of a video message of greetings in which the three embody the mood of all those who love padel, also play. And today, they also say ‘Grazie Bela’.