United States Smash 2025, Las Vegas, 7/3-13

[TensorBackhand]

It’s officially the Wang Chuqin era since he’s the last Chinese player left that still has a dominant edge over foreigners and the last holdover from the dominant China era.

I think styles matter too. Wang Chuqin has the more creative, statistical style. Similar to Ma Lin and a little ZJK.

Lin Shidong can still be a dominant force, but he is a more blunt force rally style, so he is more predictable.

 

[NextLevel]

Harimoto needs to go watch the tapes of Felix and Darko and reflect on whether his approach to stubbornly holding the table is worth it. The key thing that Wang has is the ability to redirect Harimoto's shots with early timing and high quality and this puts Harimoto on the defensive. But Darko and Felix showed that you can soften some of this by generating your own quality and moving the ball around. To be fair, I wouldn't be surprised if LJK or LSD imitated Harimoto in practice to prepare WCQ for this and they really got him sharp with video tape of the LSD loss and optimized strategies. But Harimoto needs to continue to work on what it might take to make Wang not play this fast against him. You can't serve and then pretend that the opponent can't banana flick the ball. You need to be ready to counter that.

 

[FIXPOINT]

United States Smash 2025 WS Final

 

[FIXPOINT]

United States Smash 2025 MS Final

You can find information about other categories on the following sites:
English
Japanese

 

[baotran]

Harimoto needs to go watch the tapes of Felix and Darko and reflect on whether his approach to stubbornly holding the table is worth it. The key thing that Wang has is the ability to redirect Harimoto's shots with early timing and high quality and this puts Harimoto on the defensive. But Darko and Felix showed that you can soften some of this by generating your own quality and moving the ball around. To be fair, I wouldn't be surprised if LJK or LSD imitated Harimoto in practice to prepare WCQ for this and they really got him sharp with video tape of the LSD loss and optimized strategies. But Harimoto needs to continue to work on what it might take to make Wang not play this fast against him. You can't serve and then pretend that the opponent can't banana flick the ball. You need to be ready to counter that.

The most important things are the far-from-table defense and counter attack. Wang Chuqin has the demonic serve receive with powerful shots on both wings. Opponents should learn how to step away from the table and ready for a big rallies. This is the thing that Harimoto does not have. He is too weak in mid distance and long distance games. Felix did it very well, plus his spin games to low down Wang's pace. That would be the way to hold the match I believe.

 

[zeio]

What exactly do you mean by the multi-shot exchange style?

Look up Zhang Yining and Ding Ning. 多拍相持/多板相持, the name of the style commonly referred to in China.

 

[NextLevel]

The most important things are the far-from-table defense and counter attack. Wang Chuqin has the demonic serve receive with powerful shots on both wings. Opponents should learn how to step away from the table and ready for a big rallies. This is the thing that Harimoto does not have. He is too weak in mid distance and long distance games. Felix did it very well, plus his spin games to low down Wang's pace. That would be the way to hold the match I believe.

Usually Asian players are focused on close to the table fast rally so Harimoto can take advantage of their time limitations close to the table with his efficiency. Wang is the one player who is fast enough and has enough time to study Harimoto to make this utterly uncompetitive though I suspect Sora and Togami are not that far behind, just not in Wang's level. All that said, I can't throw away all the massive improvements in Harimoto's game because of one bad loss to Wang who is the reigning World Champion. He just has been given more homework.

 

[kindof99]

Harimoto needs to go watch the tapes of Felix and Darko and reflect on whether his approach to stubbornly holding the table is worth it. The key thing that Wang has is the ability to redirect Harimoto's shots with early timing and high quality and this puts Harimoto on the defensive. But Darko and Felix showed that you can soften some of this by generating your own quality and moving the ball around. To be fair, I wouldn't be surprised if LJK or LSD imitated Harimoto in practice to prepare WCQ for this and they really got him sharp with video tape of the LSD loss and optimized strategies. But Harimoto needs to continue to work on what it might take to make Wang not play this fast against him. You can't serve and then pretend that the opponent can't banana flick the ball. You need to be ready to counter that.

I doubt whether Harimoto ever analyzed his games against WCQ. He played just clueless. Maybe his style is of disadvantage to playing against WCQ, but it looks like he did not even try.

Never disappointed, a disappointed HT vs WCQ match. I would rather watch my two 1700 friends play.

 

[kindof99]

ML has given an example of beating WCQ 4:0, and I think a lot of people have learned from that match except Harimoto. Maybe Harimot is anti-ML, just can't learn or do what ML did.

 

[JJ Ng]

I read through the thread. A few comments and observations.

I really enjoyed the tournament. I never realized how exhausting it is to watch live table tennis matches. Over the course of three days, I spent 12 hours just watching live matches. The first night, I went to the main stadium. But the next two days, I chose to go to the tent. I like the intimate atmosphere of the tent as opposed to the main stadium.

I got all my autographs in the tent. Interestingly I got autographs from Lim Jong-hoon and Zhu Yuling. Lim went on to win the the men's double and Zhu went on to win woman's single. Moral of the story: give your fans autograph and you will win the tournament.

When Zhu signed the autograph, she had just beaten Shao Jieni. I could see sweats coming down her forehead while she signed autographs and took care of the fans. Great run!

Inside the tent, it seems very obvious what the tournament director was doing. One side of the table is right next to the curtain where the training hall is on the other side of the curtain. One side of the table is obviously right next to the fans. The tournament director consistently placed the popular players from, say, China and Japan on the side next to the curtain, away from the fans so they could exit the venue without being bothered by the fans. Less popular players, mainly players from Europe, got put on the side of the table where the fans sit next to. The only time the Japanese players were seated next to the fans were the women's double match of Ito/Hayata v.s Wang/Kuai. In that case, obviously they put the Chinese pair closer to the curtain so they were not bothered by the fans.

I don't know if I like this set up. The fans were overall respectful. They didn't bother the players until the matches had finished. None stepped over the barrier. And once the matches were over, some might shout their favorite players' names to see if they would come over. Most players just do a polite wave with their hands (i.e. Ito did that) and left quietly, while only a couple players came over to sign autographs. I think if you want to engage the fans, the tournament director should do the opposite: put the more popular players closer to the fans or at least assign the sides randomly. The way they did it was way too obvious and not fan-friendly.

On the side of the fans, for tables 2-4, there is a special section of 4-5 seats warded off with a simple barrier. I saw Anton Källberg seating there during the doubles match of Kallberg/Bergstrom against Varady/Metelova. I also saw Wang Liquin during the Ito/Hayata v.s Wang/Kuai match. Wang Liquin was sitting a couple sections away so I had to do a double take to make sure it is Wang Liquin himself! He still looked as fit as he was when playing!

During Xiang Peng's match v.s Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Zhou Qihao, Xue Fei and a third tall Chinese player I did not recognize were sitting in that section as well. Some Chinese fans recognized them and tried to get some autographs. About 1-2 minutes in, the venue security came over to hush the fans away, saying, "they don't want to be bothered." As far as I could tell, these three players were actually enjoying the interaction but the fans dispersed per instruction.

The venue is held at the Orleans which is a local casino. Food options are fairly limited. About players walking very far to get their food, yeah, that's what casinos try to do. They put the hotel rooms as far away as possible so you have to walk through the casino to get to the venue and the restaurants. That is how casino makes their money.

Prices of everything in Vegas has gone up. The days of casinos giving you free drinks and cheap food to lure you in so you spend money on the tables or the slot machines are over. Now Vegas casino's want to make money on everything: food (much more expensive than before), lodging (the $50-$60 resort fee each day) and gambling (the arrival of triple zero roulette).

Finally, at the casino, I was able to do sport betting on table tennis matches! This is probably the first and only time in my life that I would get a chance to gamble on table tennis matches. As usual, all the matches involving the Chinese players were so lopsided. If you bet $10 on WCQ for example, if WCQ wins, then you get paid $0.30. So I ended up betting on matches involving non-chinese players. I ended up making $18.80 after betting $20 each on five matches. I am glad I did not lose my shirt in the casino and came home with my wallet relatively intact.

 

[zeio]

https://weibo.com/2011739333/PB2G0lMx7
新浪乒乓球
22分钟前 来自 微博视频号
#朱雨玲的赛后采访太通透了##朱雨玲活的像个哲学家#

@朱雨玲 复出仅10个月，在自己WTT征程的第41场比赛，就斩获WTT大满贯女单冠军，排名飙升至世界第六。在场上，朱雨玲上演王者归来的励志剧本，而场下的她，通透得更像是位哲学家，她说想做自己人生的主人，关于过去和未来，听听她是怎么说的。

“过去的经历对我来是一笔宝贵的财富，也取决于我如何去看待当下的问题，今后的路我也不敢去想什么样，但是最轻松的永远是昨天。我希望这个梦能够做的更长一些，至于什么时候结束，取决于我什么时候醒来，我想做人生的主人。”

“如果我没有记错的话，这应该是我WTT舞台的第41场比赛，我只是想每一场比赛都这样记录着，因为不知道我还能打多久，这个是实话。我也不知道自己的终点在哪里，我希望自己就像刚才所说的，我希望这个梦能够做的更长一些，至于什么时候结束，取决于我什么时候醒来，我想做人生的主人。”

“就像我刚才对陈熠所说的话，其实也是在对现在的自己说，不要在乎外界。可能在赛场上大家给我鼓掌的时候，我是那颗比较耀眼的星，其实回归到赛后运动员走下领奖台，从零开始，我其实还是一个普通人，我也要过自己的生活，我也有自己其他的时间要做，所以我希望自己也是这样一直保持稳定的生活下去。”

想对自己的学生说什么？“赛前他们一直在鼓励我，包括从我复出以来我的学生一直在鼓励我，有一次我记得我说哎呀这个比赛太紧张了怎么打呀，我又没有系统训练，好害怕输给名不见经传的选手啊，我是学生说，老师要不我去打吧，你这么怕输的话你就永远别参加比赛，你不参加比赛你永远不会输。他们这句话也是非常打动我，也一直在我的复出之路上他们每一场都在看，每一场都在电视机前给我加油，所以这种无穷力量，虽然我们离得很远，但是我们的能量是在一个磁场的。”

完美展现何谓教学相长，朱雨玲：“是的，因为我当老师也说过，老师这个职业就是以生命影响生命的，他们影响我，我也影响他们，我们相互激励着。”#WTT美国大满贯2025# 精神病院派来的猴子的微博视频
(@朱雨玲 Only 10 months after her comeback, she won the WTT Grand Smash WS title in her 41st match of her WTT journey, and her ranking soared to 6th in the world. On the court, Zhu Yuling staged an inspirational script of the king's return, and off the court, she is incisive like a philosopher. She said she wanted to be the master of her own life. Listen to what she said about the past and the future.

"The past experience is a valuable asset to me, and it also depends on how I look at the current problems. I dare not think about what the future will be like, but the easiest time is always yesterday. I hope this dream can last longer. As for when it ends, it depends on when I wake up. I want to be the master of my life."

"If I remember correctly, this should be my 41st match on the WTT stage. I just want to record every match like this, because I don’t know how long I can play. That is the truth. I don’t know when it will end. I hope I can be like what I said just now. I hope this dream can last longer. As for when it ends, it depends on when I wake up. I want to be the master of my life."

"Just like what I said to Chen Yi just now, I am actually also telling myself now, don’t care about the outside world. Maybe when everyone applauds me in the arena, I am that more dazzling star. In fact, when the athlete walks down the podium after the match and starts from scratch, I am actually still an ordinary person. I also have to live my own life. I also have other time [sic] to do, so I hope I can keep a stable life like this."

What do you want to say to your students? "Before the tournament, they kept encouraging me, including my students who have been encouraging me since my return. I remember once I said, oh, this tournament is too tense, how can I play? I don't have systematic training, I'm afraid of losing to unknown players. A student said, teacher, why don't I go and play? If you are so afraid of losing, you should never participate in competitions. If you don't participate, you will never lose. Their words also touched me very much. They have been watching every match on my return journey, cheering me on in front of the TV for every match. So this kind of infinite power, although we are far away, our energy is in the same magnetic field."

Perfectly showing what teaching and learning are, Zhu Yuling: "Yes, because I also said when I was a teacher that the profession of a teacher is to influence life with life. They influence me, I also influence them, and we inspire each other." #WTTUSSmash2025# Weibo video of the monkey sent by the mental hospital)

两强相遇韧者胜！朱雨玲说决赛不是真正的高水平对决
https://www.miguvideo.com/p/detail/956241178
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1mMuez7EuG

https://weibo.com/5380827259/PB2aIwVz7
小个邓亚萍
4小时前 来自 微博视频号
#WTT美国大满贯2025##亚萍姐的乒乓时间# 祝贺朱雨玲获得WTT美国大满贯女单冠军，刚才两位女将为我们奉献了一场精彩的女单决赛。同时也祝贺陈熠小将，这次非常不容易，一路过关斩将，并且在落后的状态下翻盘，最终打进决赛。

虽然陈熠今天有机会赢得比赛，但是遗憾的是没有抓住这个机会。起初，她非常积极主动地发球抢攻，主动加力非常奏效。朱雨玲在最初的表现并不理想，无谓失误也很多。但毕竟是老将，姜还是老的辣嘛，她逐渐适应了陈熠的旋转速度和落点，包括她的特点。她开始做出非常有效的变化，敢于出手，同时得分手段非常明确，打出一些机会球，坚决使用正手下手。

今天这场比赛双方都发挥了非常出色的水平，希望小将陈熠能够继续总结今天失败的经验，毕竟还很年轻，这次也刚崭露头角，相信你未来可期！ 小个邓亚萍的微博视频

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

Not a fan of WCQ but he's definitely the only player on the men's team who can uphold CNT's pedigree at the moment. Hats off to him.

Yep
WCQ has grown a lot mentally and is pretty much the only solid mens player left.
It is a huge burden though, how long he can handle the pressure is key. FZD had enough of it.
Having seen videos on how WCQ dodges fans (which is more like paparazzi celebrity issues), he sure isnt having a good time being the center or attention all the time. This also gives tows on you.
The fans should know when to give a break, with some times the ethical fans need to pull aside the unethical ones to help WCQ- ie a fan pulled his shoulder with force to take a selfie, another fan when to protect WCQ from this fan and taught her to not touch players)

 

[baotran]

ML has given an example of beating WCQ 4:0, and I think a lot of people have learned from that match except Harimoto. Maybe Harimot is anti-ML, just can't learn or do what ML did.

Well, first Ma Long's way to defeat Wang is too difficult for players these days. It requires good serve reading, super accurate defensive forehand (with unpredictable placements), out-of-this-world ability of rallies at every distances, and "GOAT" variations. Second, you also need to mix everything up to confuse Wang, which prevents him from adapting this game style. Harimoto does not have any of these aspects, unfortunately ... Also nowadays ML's way might not be super effective against Wang. He has improved a lot in handling spin variations and rallies. Just look the game between Wang and Fan in the semi-final of Super League 2024, Fan used the same principle but still had no chance.

 

[Angerer]

Well, first Ma Long's way to defeat Wang is too difficult for players these days. It requires good serve reading, super accurate defensive forehand (with unpredictable placements), out-of-this-world ability of rallies at every distances, and "GOAT" variations. Second, you also need to mix everything up to confuse Wang, which prevents him from adapting this game style. Harimoto does not have any of these aspects, unfortunately ... Also nowadays ML's way might not be super effective against Wang. He has improved a lot in handling spin variations and rallies. Just look the game between Wang and Fan in the semi-final of Super League 2024, Fan used the same principle but still had no chance.

Imo, the style from ML in that game is unreplicable. His backhand, with all its flaws, is unique and semi-flat, which none of the modern top players have.
Also, you need to be mentally ready to play the best player in the world in a "I don't give a F" mode and make 100% commitments to unleash backhand and not even come back to the table. And have ML's impeccable short game, of course, to put yourself into desirable positions. I reckon, even ML would not be able to replicate that unique mood from that day.
No matter what ML previously tried, he had been battered by WCQ in one-sided beatdowns.

 

[rpb23]

ML has given an example of beating WCQ 4:0, and I think a lot of people have learned from that match except Harimoto. Maybe Harimot is anti-ML, just can't learn or do what ML did.

If beating WCQ 4:0 happened only once or twice while got beaten by him more times including some 0:4 is not a good example how to play against WCQ. Actually, WCQ is one of very few, maybe the only one player who has very good winning record against ML.
A prime time WCQ plays against ML of any era, I would bet on WCQ. Wang's style is just too tough for Ma to handle.
The only player who can threat WCQ every time is a prime time FZD, but how many players can possess Fan's out of this world power, skill and mental strength? Almost none.
Currently, WCQ's biggest threat is himself as he tends to go through hot and cold cycles. However, he seems has improved as his current hot form has lasted quite long. His capture of world championship may gave him the ultimate confidence needed to sustain his greatness. Quite likely, he will be Chinese next grand slam winner.

Like most Asians, Tomo has excellent short games and with his top speed he usually performs very well against most Asian players except a slow Xu Xin. Interestingly Tomo got beat by many non-Asian players who love to play mid/long distance power ralles. WCQ is very few among Asians who has even better short games and more aggresive with even faster pace. So, style and skill wise, WCQ just owns Tomo.

Felix's game against WCQ, on the other hand, can serve as a good example how to deal with WCQ. In order to challenge WCQ, you need speed, excellent reaction or anticipation to sustain Wang's initial attack, great abillity of top spin mid/long distance rallies, unpredictable placement to slow down Wang's relentless attack, Felix demonstrated all these traits in the match. Even in loss, I think Felix has played the best match in his career. It's unrelistic to expect him to perform like that next time these two meet as at this stage, WCQ is simply a stronger player.

 

[baotran]

Imo, the style from ML in that game is unreplicable. His backhand, with all its flaws, is unique and semi-flat, which none of the modern top players have.
Also, you need to be mentally ready to play the best player in the world in a "I don't give a F" mode and make 100% commitments to unleash backhand and not even come back to the table. And have ML's impeccable short game, of course, to put yourself into desirable positions. I reckon, even ML would not be able to replicate that unique mood from that day.
No matter what ML previously tried, he had been battered by WCQ in one-sided betdowns.

Beside the backhand, other crucial points of that match, and different from previous matches, were that ML had been able to read WCQ's serves very well and Wang also could not easily steal his first attack from ML's reverse pendulum serve (interestingly this serving tactics was used by ML in the final of Singapore Smash 2022 against Fan, and took 3 sets in a row). Since 2022 we often saw ML badly received Wang's serves and let him played the killing third balls, but the tactics of Captain Long in 2024 showed that if people can immune Wang's third balls attack and powerful attacking serve receives, we can have more chances to win against this left-handed monster.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

During Xiang Peng's match v.s Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Zhou Qihao, Xue Fei and a third tall Chinese player I did not recognize were sitting in that section as well. Some Chinese fans recognized them and tried to get some autographs. About 1-2 minutes in, the venue security came over to hush the fans away, saying, "they don't want to be bothered." As far as I could tell, these three players were actually enjoying the interaction but the fans dispersed per instruction.

The venue is held at the Orleans which is a local casino. Food options are fairly limited. About players walking very far to get their food, yeah, that's what casinos try to do. They put the hotel rooms as far away as possible so you have to walk through the casino to get to the venue and the restaurants. That is how casino makes their money.

I personally am not fond of casino venue for sport events.

2016 WJTTC was like that, but the walk wasn't long - however there is too much public traffic and no secure player pathways - and this is the same issue in Vegas.

You want players to be able to eat in the hotel - no walking to other buildings a mile away - or arrange shuttles for it - not a 20 mins walk.

Also, you don't want players walking through a casino - with the light and noise interference.
There is some things that just doesn't suite well with each other.


also, seating - you normally have players seating areas, that is closed off to public.
with fan culture, this zoning of seating areas is even more important.
players need to rest, and entertaining fans should be left to fanzone schedules.
generally WTT does have this part catered for.

 

[zeio]

American Airlines "refuse" to let Sakamoto and company return... LOL

https://weibo.com/2011739333/PB1vtjvth
https://www.instagram.com/sakaryu1125

 

[zeio]

DHK managed to break even and come out of US Smash 2025 unscathed... LOL

https://weibo.com/2011739333/PB1zMoKbv
新浪乒乓球
8小时前 来自 微博视频号
#杜凯琹比赛奖金刚好够伙食费#

此前，中国香港运动员@杜凱琹 发视频表示，由于WTT美国大满贯赛事方不管晚餐，所以每天得自己找吃的，她调侃称争取多赢两轮，把伙食费赚回来。结束这一站比赛的杜凯琹在社媒表示：“伙食费差不多了，应该是打平了。”[笑cry]#WTT美国大满贯2025# 精神病院派来的猴子的微博视频

Even DHK, Ng Wing Lam, Lam Yee Lok, SXN, and Ito/Ito's mom can't stand the rip-off price of Las Vegas.

Hospitality does not include dinner? A minimum of over 100 bucks for some Japanese fast food? 成舊水有多重要唔知食出啲嘜。 25 bucks for a bottle of water and the hotel still charges you even if you replace them out of your own pocket?

https://weibo.com/2011739333/PAzZaEPxB
新浪乒乓球
6小时前 来自 微博网页版
#美国大满贯不包晚餐##选手为了赚餐费各种上技能#

吃饭有点贵~~@杜凱琹 透露#WTT美国大满贯2025# 不管晚饭，“所以每天得自己找吃的。点那么抠抠搜搜，但是真就是下不去手啊。啥也别说了，多赢两轮，把伙食费赚回来。”

不仅是杜凯琹，其他球员也都在想招儿~

单晓娜：酒店矿泉水25美元一瓶，买好还回去，水还了，钱还是要交。

伊藤美诚的妈妈，则直接给女儿做了料理。

https://weibo.com/2011739333/PAAbmtIEZ
新浪乒乓球
5小时前 来自 微博视频号
#选手每天训练完第一任务是多拿水#

场馆打着打着漏水？球台训练比赛不一致？晚饭也不给管管？

WTT美国大满贯在拉斯维加斯进行，由于赛事不提供晚餐，而且赌城的物价非常高，所以选手们也是能省就省，能利用就利用。比如从比赛场馆练完多拿些水回去，或者点菜省着点，因为真的太贵了！！！！

温网斯瓦泰克成了“毛巾大盗”是因为要把毛巾带回去给朋友或者亲友，这美国大满贯的选手们，真的是自己要用啊。[允悲]

#美国大满贯物价贵到选手受不了##WTT美国大满贯2025# 草莓牛奶特别甜的微博视频

 

[zeio]

Molin bashes US Smash 2025...

Nathanaël Molin, coach d'Alexis et Félix Lebrun : « Un très bon point de passage » (Nathanaël Molin, coach of Alexis and Félix Lebrun: “A very good starting point”)
https://www.lequipe.fr/Tennis-de-ta...x-lebrun-un-tres-bon-point-de-passage/1577898
"The week seems to have particularly drawn on the resources of the protagonists of the Grand Smash in Las Vegas...
The players were put to the test. Table tennis was expatriated to a place where no one plays , so everyone had a huge time difference (9 hours with France, 15 with Beijing, in China) . There were lots of little hiccups, and always this thing of going to bling-bling places... We prefer a good room, simple and decent food for athletes, a training room... But being housed at the MGM (gigantic 4-star hotel-casino) is not interesting.

You've just completed the first half of the year, what's your assessment?
The post-Games period lasted a very long time, I estimate it was until March-April. Where as soon as we met someone, we were told about them... Then we went into a complex period for Alexis, with his injury (end of March) and the preparation for the World Championships. We're arriving a little out of breath. We did the last two competitions, in Ljubljana (in Slovenia) and here (in Las Vegas) , by being lighter in our approach, that is to say without preparing specifically for them. Which undoubtedly allowed us to be mentally fresher.

Results from both tournaments: a final and a semi-final in singles for Félix, a semi-final for Alexis in Ljubljana, and two finals in doubles. You should do this for all competitions...
It went well, but it's also the result of all the things put in place over the last eighteen months. Félix, for example, managed in yesterday's match (Sunday, in the semi-finals against Wang Chuqin ) to put in place the game that corresponds to where we want to take him in the future. It's a very good transition point. We're relying on things we had seen in training and sometimes only in matches. He did it in an extremely tight seven-set match, where the level was very close to the Olympic Games, on both sides. It allows us to have a precise analysis of the work that has been done.

Playing doubles, in addition to singles, often allows Alexis or Félix to have a second chance. Is that important?
The first thing is that we finish the tournaments. I like it when we close the room, it's nice. Lilian ( Bardet, quarter-finalist for his first appearance in the main draw of a Grand Smash) told me that it felt strange to arrive in the warm-up room, where there were only 5-6 players left. You savor those moments. And that's always a good sign.

On the other hand, doubles are taking on real importance with the Olympics (the men's and women's doubles events, canceled in 2008, will return to the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 ) . And it allows you to work on certain very specific things that can help you improve in singles, particularly in service returns.

Finally, are you within the planned split times this year?
We had two key points, the World Championships (bronze medal in doubles in Doha at the end of May) and the Euro Team Championships (in Zadar, Croatia, from October 12 to 19) , with the competitions around them. That is to say the World Cup (in April) , where we were not fantastic ( Félix Lebrun did not make it out of the group stage , Alexis is out) . We will now aim for October-November, with the European Team Championships, Montpellier (WTT Champions, from October 28 to November 2) and the Mixed World Cup (November 30-December 7 in Chengdu, China) , then finish the year well at the WTT Finals (December 10-14 in Hong Kong) .