A few hours before Alexis Lebrun's quarter-final at the WTT Champions in Montpellier, Jean-René Mounié, performance director at the FFTT, gives news of the Frenchman.
How is Alexis after his round of 16 on Friday night?
So he left some energy, I think so, probably some impulses too. But he had a good night. He managed the morning well. He came to train this morning. We were able to prepare for the match all together. I think he handles these moments very well. Despite his young age, he still has a lot of experience. I think we will only be able to judge from the moment he is confronted with the difficulty. We'll see that later. But in any case, I believe he is doing everything he can to succeed.
But what a match he gave us…
I think we can even call it a great sporting moment. It even goes beyond table tennis. There was a fairly extraordinary level of play. Obviously, there is also a dramaturgy, a scenario which was still fantastic. Even more so when it ends like that, with the result on our side, it's still very pleasant. I believe that what Alexis put in place made a lot of sense, it was very coherent. We know that things turn around very quickly in table tennis. So in fact, I believe that there is no room for parasitic thoughts. You just have to stay focused and continue to follow the path you have set. This is what he managed to do. It's fantastic.
We know that Alexis is someone who plays a lot with emotions, and that they can often be a little negative in certain matches. There, he showed us a mind of steel. Were you surprised to see him so strong in his head?
In fact, I think it's quite paradoxical the way Alexis can act, or what can come out of his matches. When we look at his career at European level, it is completely unthinkable. He won everything, the European top 16, the European championships in singles, doubles, team. So he is capable of asserting himself with favorite status. I can't say that I was very, very surprised, because playing in Montpellier is very close to his heart. With this audience, it’s still very, very easy. He doesn't need to push himself at all. He has extreme focus that comes naturally. And I think he just went his own way. So obviously, he had a little bit of frustration after losing the second set. But there was no way he was going to let go of anything. He showed it, he proved it. And congratulations to him.
After his match, Alexis told us he was happy to get back to that level. Lately he has had his hand injury, missed tournaments. Was it important that he had a benchmark match like that?
Yes, obviously. We know well that it is a sport that is also played on the mental part and confidence is a key element of performance. So that's a really important point for us. We saw throughout the European Championships, apart from the matches he was able to play, the level he was able to develop, that he was in the process of rising to a crescendo. So we were waiting for results. But at the high level, we can often have a roughly respected analysis of what we can anticipate but we never know over time. But he managed to do it there, it's great.
Can we say that Alexis is on a mission this week in Montpellier?
I just feel one thing, it's that he has enormous joy playing here. And it's true that even in the approach to matches, even in the preparation for matches, we talk relatively little about these elements. We try to concentrate on what he has to do. He is very happy to play here. He is keen to offer the best version of himself. I don't think it's more complicated than that. He approaches this event with great simplicity.
Is this the best version of himself in eighths?
I think so. I believe that there are still things to improve on the technical level of table tennis, particularly in the pace of play, etc. But it’s true that it was still a high quality performance.
This evening, he will face Slovenian Darko Jorgic, a player he knows well…
It's a hell of a tug-of-war all the time. Jorgic is a player who has a well-established playing structure. It's never easy to get out of your system. He is very, very strong on the backhand. His ball has a lot of weight on the forehand. He has a service that is a little different from what we see on the circuit, where he uses a lot of spin. So, it's going to be a tactical fight. I hope that Alexis will be able to impose his qualities. We will see that very quickly.
