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| Marian Capadocia gets a hug from Senator Pia Cayetano when the former opened up about the lack of support she was getting from the tennis community before jumping to Padel. Jansen Romero/Padel Pilipinas |
MANDALUYONG--Way before Alex Eala came along, Marian Capadocia was the contemporary queen of Philippine tennis.
Capadocia was the number-one ranked female tennis player in the Philippines before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
While Eala has already made a steady rise to the top of even the Asian tennis ladder, Capadocia turned her attention to padel, a fast-rising racket sport that draws some similarities to the classic tennis game.
However, it was when she began settling for smaller-sized rackets that she felt a different level of excitement that she thought was absent when she was still smashing yellow balls with bigger rackets.
"Honestly, never ko siyang na-feel sa tennis community. I'm sorry to say pero never kong na-feel yung support," Capadocia said on Thursday when Padel Pilipinas, the newly-founded national sports association for padel, welcomed her back alongside Joanna Tan from their successful conquest in the Asia-Pacific Padel Tour at Play Padel.
The duo ruled the Singapore leg of the APPT to become the first all-Filipina tandem to win it all, triumphing over the Japanese-Indonesian pairing of Kotomi Ozawa and Beatrice Gumulya, 6-2, 1-6, 7-5, in the final.
From there, Capadocia thought she had found a new home.
"There's a saying na 'It takes a village to build a champion.' Sa akin, ito yun," Capadocia said, referring to the NSA founded by Senator Pia Cayetano, herself a multi-sport enthusiast.
"Did I intentionally create that environment? Of course. Why would I want my coaches and my athletes to feel that they are alone?" Cayetano said.
"I want the coaches and the athletes to feel supported."
While the 29-year-old racketeer clarified that she is still not yet done with her tennis career, Capadocia believes her recent padel championship could factor in ultimately deciding if she will continue playing the new sport for good.
For sure, though, Capadocia has really settled in the "Padel Village".
"Dito ko na-feel na meron akong village na pwedeng sandalan at sumusuporta sa akin. I'm very thankful sa Padel Pilipinas," she further said.
Follow him on X: @IvanSaldajeno
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