Leygue Battles Back From Achilles Injury to Reach First French Round of 16 at Paris Major

Thomas Leygue and Jesus Moya beat 13th seeds Juanlu Esbri and Sanyo Gutierrez 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 in the round of 32 at the Alpine Paris Major, sending Leygue into the round of 16 at Roland Garros. No French player has reached that stage at a Premier Padel Major before.

A grueling three-setter

The match ran two hours and 23 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier. Leygue and Moya cruised through the first set, dropped the second, then dug in for a tight 7-5 third. Premier Padel's own recap counted 76 winners for the French pair, with 46 of them smashes, a sign of how much they leaned on the net to close out points.

Back from an Achilles injury

Leygue has not had an easy road back. He tore his Achilles tendon last year and spent months on the sidelines before returning to the tour. After the win he said: "I want to thank all the people that supported me when I was suffering after the injury. I'm going to enjoy this moment of my career."

Kurz makes her own history

The same day on Court Suzanne Lenglen, Germany's Victoria Kurz partnered Anna Ortiz to beat Camila Ramme and Brittany Dubins 6-3, 6-0 as lucky losers. Kurz became the first German woman to reach the round of 16 at a Premier Padel event.

What's next

Leygue and Moya now wait to learn their round of 16 opponents as the Paris Major continues through the weekend at Roland Garros.