They advance masked, sometimes the hand on the mouth so as not to say too much to their opponents. On the court, Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul have been talking about the same language for four years: that of an effective double, accomplice, and still in the running for the title in Aix-en-Provence after their victory yesterday in quarters (6-3, 2-6, 12-10 in Super Tie-Break). Originally from Toulouse, light accent and a frank smile, the two men form the first French pair in the world ranking, now pointing to 8th place in the live classification.
Between the two, it is a story of solid links, knotted twenty years ago in a regional training center. Fabien, the youngest, knew Sadio thanks to his sister. From these first exchanges were born from the crossed paths on the circuit, in simple first, before Reboul, tired of a career in stagnant solo (328th world at best), decided to turn to double during the pandemic. “I called Sadio, it was 250th at the time. The transition was done gradually, first by combining simple and double on common tournaments, then we started to prioritize the double and to definitively put the simple side“sums up” Bison “, the nickname that his elder gave him.
“A couple relationship”
For the past four years, the two friends have been skipping tournaments in pairs, accompanied by their coach Paul Cayre, alias Paulo, former 700th world, converted into an apprentice-expert of the double for his two friends. Like them, he learns day after day and puts his new knowledge from his comrades. The adventure is as much human as sporting.
