Carla Touly retires hours after first French title with Léa Godallier

Carla Touly has walked away from professional padel at the highest point of her domestic career. Only hours after she and Léa Godallier won the 2026 French Championships at Padel+ Agen, the 30-year-old announced that she is ending her career on the international circuit, according to Padel Magazine.

A first national title, without dropping a set

Godallier and Touly arrived in Agen as the strongest pair on paper and played like it. They beat Dardaine and Mansart 7-5, 6-4 in the semi-finals and then dismissed Louise Bahurel and Lucile Pothier 6-3, 6-1 in Sunday's final. They did not concede a set all week.

For Touly, the trophy carried extra weight: she had lost the French final in both 2024 and 2025, so this was her first senior national title. The partnership was not new either – Godallier and Touly had already won the P2000 in Bordeaux together in January 2026, also without losing a set.

The championships, held from October 2 to 4, brought 72 pairs to Agen to compete for three national titles across the women's, men's and para-padel draws.

"Time to take another path"

Touly made her decision public on Instagram. "I simply feel that it is time for me to take another path, a path that will make me happier," she wrote. She pointed to the daily reality of life on tour – constant travel, permanent financial and personal investment, frequent partner changes – and above all to a personal balance that had become too hard to sustain.

Her rise had been unusually fast. After more than two decades in tennis, Touly committed seriously to padel only around four years ago, yet climbed to a career-high world ranking of 70 and became France's No. 3 woman. She also won bronze with France at the 2024 European Championships.

Tellingly, in an interview recorded before the announcement, she twice answered questions about her reduced schedule and a possible comeback in January with the same evasive line: "Peut-être, peut-être pas" – maybe, maybe not.

She is not leaving padel altogether. Touly has confirmed she will still play the upcoming World Championships and the French team championships with TC Bandol, whose squad also includes Godallier, Clara Mansart, Georgia Marchetti, Carolina Orsi and Nuria Rodríguez.

Blanqué and Leygue make history in the men's draw

The men's title went to Bastien Blanqué and Thomas Leygue, who beat Maxime Forcin and Maxime Joris 7-6, 6-3. According to the French Tennis Federation, the final game alone featured two saved break points and two saved match points before the champions closed it out.

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It was a fourth national crown together for Blanqué and Leygue, making them the most decorated men's pair in the history of the event. For Blanqué it is a seventh French title overall – three of them came alongside Johan Bergeron – and the result extended his run to nine consecutive French finals. The route was anything but smooth: their semi-final against Bayard and Vincent went to three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, and finished after midnight.

In para-padel, Sébastien Husser-Walter and Tony Boval took the title with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Kevin Piette and Matthias Bergs.

Straight back on tour

There is no rest for Godallier. She heads directly to the Premier Padel P1 in Milan, followed by events in Kuwait, the World Championships and Dubai, and will switch back to the right side of the court after the nationals. Beaten finalist Bahurel, meanwhile, was listed in the Düsseldorf P2 qualifying draw alongside Ivet Val, but the pair withdrew without playing, PadelSpain reported. Touly's next big stage is the World Championships in Doha, scheduled for November 2 to 7.