The FIP Silver International Padel Tournament, which began on Wednesday, October 1st, concluded this Sunday, October 5th, 2025, in Abidjan. The two finals were 100% Spanish, both for the women's and men's competitions. In this well-established Spanish dominance, the Ivorian pair of Sadjo Coulibaly and Jauresse Kouamé managed to make their way to the semifinals.

At just 20 years old, the two young Ivorians, more accustomed to the tennis courts than the glass cage of padel, have achieved a feat of which they and their supporters are proud.

When the first padel courts were built next to their tennis club two and a half years ago, Sadjo Coulibaly and Jauresse Kouamé decided to go see what was going on there. Since then, the object of their curiosity has become their second discipline alongside tennis, which remains, for the moment, their favorite sport. Their first participation in a tournament on the second world padel circuit has turned into an exploit.

" It's true, it's difficult to do both [padel and tennis] at the same time, because it's not the same game, it's not the same racket, nor the same grips ," admitted Jauresse Kouamé after the lost semi-final. " We wanted to try and then, thanks to grace, we reached the semi-final. We didn't expect to get this far. We learned because we were up against very good players ."

Players of world-class stature, like the Spanish pair who ended the remarkable run of the young Ivorian padel players at home. " They're very strong, and they're ranked higher than us since padel isn't our core sport ," recalls Sadjo Coulibaly, who was confused at the beginning. " But we're trying to adapt. We really fought and we loved playing too. We're very proud of ourselves, " she concludes.

This pride, which has translated into support from the local public, is also shared by Fayza Hojeij, promoter of this first FIP Silver-level tournament on the African continent. " They have shown a lot of perseverance and a lot of focus throughout this journey ," she says, praising Sadjo Coulibaly and Jauresse Kouamé. " As the first Ivorian team to reach this stage of the competition, we are really very proud. And we are sure that they have great things in store for us in the future ."

Sadjo Coulibaly and Jauresse Kouamé have, in any case, embodied the potential of Côte d'Ivoire on the international padel scene. Their performance will undoubtedly remain one of the highlights of this unprecedented FIP Silver tournament organized in Africa.