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In the history of a sport, some players are more impactful than others and revolutionise the game, taking it to new heights. Today, we look at one in particular who, for several years, has been pushing the boundaries of padel. The undisputed world number 1, he is currently the best and reigns over his discipline. A look back at the career—still far from over—of Juan Lebron.
Born to shine
On 30 January 1995, in the small town of El Puerto de Santa Maria, not far from Cadiz, Juan Lebron Chincoa was born. His love at first sight with padel came at the age of 7, when he wanted to copy his father playing with his friends. The result is a lasting love story that has taken him to the top. Right from the junior categories, he showed his talent to Spain by winning several major local and national tournaments, displaying a strong personality that would stay with him throughout his career. At 17, he had to make a difficult but necessary decision for his continued development: moving to Madrid to focus 100% on padel and make it his profession. He trained tirelessly and joined the professional circuit in 2014, at just 19 years old.
Confirmation at the professional level
On the World Padel Tour circuit, Juan Lebron progressed, winning more and more matches and climbing the rankings. With several successive partners like Gabi Reca or Marcello Jardim, he reached 19th place in the WPT rankings at the end of 2017. In 2018, with his new teammate Juan Cruz, he formed a very solid pair that took them all the way to the final, defeating the world number 1 pair at the time: Fernando Belasteguin and Pablo Lima. It was on that day that Juan Lebron revealed himself to the world and reached the upper echelons of international padel.
At the beginning of 2019, he announced what promised to be an explosive partnership with Paquito Navarro, one of the most in-form players of the moment. After a colourful and eventful season, during which Juan Lebron won his first tournaments on the circuit, the pair finished the year as world number 1. A meteoric rise for the Cadiz native who, alongside his partner, became the first player born in Spain to reach the top of world padel, an achievement previously reserved for Argentines.
Despite this achievement, the two players parted ways and Lebron teamed up with Alejandro Galan to confirm his dominance. The result: 3 years of supremacy at the top and a world number 1 spot held since November 2019. Juan Lebron fully embraces this status and always strives to do better by working harder and harder on his game. The nickname "El Lobo" (the Wolf in Spanish) was also given to him to describe this combative edge. But for him, the secret to his success is not down to luck, but solely to hard work and humility: "The most important thing is to work with humility on what needs improving and leave your ego off the court."
Here are a few monstrous points from the Spaniard, among many others:
Juan Lebron's Career Honours
Since winning his first tournament with Paquito Navarro, Juan Lebron has racked up tournament victories in brilliant fashion. The first in Alicante in 2019 and the most recent to date, the Barcelona Master Final in 2022 with Galan. In total, that makes 19 "Open" tournaments won (out of around 20 tournaments played per year), 7 Master tournaments (5 to 6 played per year) and 2 "Master Final" tournaments (1 tournament per year bringing together the best players of the season, the toughest tournament to win). An impressive record of achievements that shows no sign of slowing down as the pair's performances remain exceptionally high.
Always by Babolat's side
Every great champion is backed by a great equipment brand and Juan Lebron is no exception to the rule. The Spaniard and the French brand have been working together since 2016 in one of the most successful partnerships in the history of padel. And over all these years of collaboration, Babolat has been able to deliver high-quality products co-designed with Lebron. Such is the case with the Jet Premura, one of, if not the, best pairs of padel shoes on the market. Lightweight yet durable, it is reinforced in strategic areas for padel and features an all-terrain outsole manufactured by the famous brand Michelin. Approved and used by Juan Lebron on the professional circuit.
But the flagship product of this collaboration is the now famous Technical Viper Juan Lebron Edition released in November 2022. It is a limited edition of the player's racket, the Technical Viper. Featuring the wolf head, Lebron's symbol thanks to his nickname, it offers a magnificent and 100% unique design in shades of blue, red, and black. Delivered with a collector's box including the racket and 2 extra replaceable wrist straps, this racket is without doubt the most powerful on the market and will help you pull off all your par 3s. Its 12k carbon and diamond shape can make you ultra-dominant on any overhead balls.
And now, what's next?
With this unchallenged dominance for 4 years, what could still motivate the Spanish champion? Quite simply, staying at the top for as long as possible and getting within reach of Fernando Belasteguin's record of remaining number 1 for 14 consecutive seasons. And the public's criticism of this lack of variety is not going to change his mind: "I understand people who want more diversity, but I'm not going to lose on purpose. Their complaints leave me fairly indifferent," asserted a confident El Lobo.
Especially since, at 28, Lebron still has many years ahead of him and his partnership with Ale Galan (26), although sometimes turbulent, is ultra-effective and strikes fear into all the biggest pairs in world padel. Furthermore, his partnership with Babolat is still going strong and holds many surprises in store with even more collector's special editions. You haven't heard the last of Juan Lebron.
