WTT Star Contender: Alexis and Felix Lebrun use sibling rivalry to end Chinese TT dominance

One supports the suave Roger Federer, the other backs the gritty Rafael Nadal. One uses an unusual penhold grip while the other prefers the more ‘normal’ shakehand grip. Looks and family aside, there may not be many aspects similar between the French bespectacled brothers, 20-year-old Alexis and 17-year-old Felix Lebrun, but the one commonality they share is their fixation on ending China’s dominance in table tennis. And they’re depending on the competition between each other to raise their game to unbelievable heights.

From both being ranked over 750th in the world at the start of 2022, the brothers are now in the world’s top 25, with Felix, the younger brother, ranked 8th. The limelight on them has magnified thanks to the Olympic Games being held in their backyard later this year.

International ranking doesn’t matter much to both of them as much as the head-to-head record does. As of now, Alexis, who’s ranked 22nd in the world, has won both their official meetings. But he knows Felix is close to ending that run.

“I’m very happy to win because when you are the big brother there are some expectations on you to beat the little brother. But he (Felix) is an incredible table tennis player and when I’m playing him, I appreciate his level and know I have to raise mine as well,” Alexis told The Indian Express.

The sport is so infused into them that even their dinner sessions together are largely extended analytical sessions.

The stage was set for a meeting between the Lebrun brothers in the quarterfinals of the ongoing WTT Star Contender in Goa but Nigeria’s Aruna Quadri played spoilsport, beating Alexis in the Round of 16. Felix though didn’t let World No. 13 Aruna get the better of both brothers in one day, beating him in straight games in the quarterfinal.

While Felix says he wanted his brother to win over Aruna, he’s thankful that he didn’t have to face him. “When I play Alexis, I do play with full intensity, but I never seem to win. I think he knows my game too well,” he said after his win.

Born for table tennis

It was almost like the brothers had no chance of picking up another profession or sport. Their father, Stephane, was a former French national champion in men’s doubles while their uncle Cristophe represented France at three Olympics and was once ranked as high as World No. 14.

Their dad started coaching after his career and opened a table tennis club in Montpellier where both brothers first started playing. “Our family is what you call a table tennis family. I joined the club when I was still little but when I was born, I think I had a bat in my hand,” jokes Alexis.

The sport is so infused into them that even their dinner sessions together are largely extended analytical sessions.

“If we are having dinner, then it’s just TT with my father and brother. My sister and mother will speak about other things but we aren’t usually listening. I’ve no idea what they talk about,” laughs Alexis.

Alexis, who, like his favourite sportsperson, Rafael Nadal, uses his ferocious forehand to get the better of his opponents, was the first between both the brothers to take the TT world by storm. At the 2022 WTT Contender in Tunis, he beat 2016 European champion Emmanuel Lebesson, Japanese star Tomokazu Harimoto, and 2019 Worlds silver medallist Mattias Falck. The best win of his career though was undoubtedly when he stunned World No. 1 Fan Zhendong at the WTT Champions Macau last year. It was also the first time he was seen as a real threat to the Chinese.

Felix, who started using a rare penhold grip after seeing a top Chinese player use it, has had some fascinating victories in the last year itself. He did exceedingly well to win the European Games, before beating six-time Olympic medallist Dmitrij Ovtcharov to win the WTT Contender in Antalaya. His greatest morale-boosting victory though he said was taking a set of the great Ma Long at the 2022 WTT Star Contender Budapest.

“I was super happy to be able to play against him, as he’s starting to be a bit older, I wanted to play him before he stopped,” the 17-year-old had said in a previous interview. “I saw interviews where he said that at my age, he was not playing as well as me, and it’s super pleasant that he said that.”

Felix, who’s still in school but completing his course online, says he likes table tennis because it’s almost like boxing. “The sport is very complete. Even the number 1 in the world can improve in many ways. I like that. I like the competition between opponents. The table is quite small so we are very close to each other. I like that. It’s not like boxing because we don’t touch each other but we can think like that,” says Felix.

One of the reasons the Chinese have dominated the world of table tennis is because of the sheer number of players that play the sport and the fact that they don’t have any dearth of quality sparring partners. And having a quality sparring partner at home is how the Lebruns intend to end the Chinese dominance.

“When we train together, we help each other out. And even when we play against each other we are also training each other,” says Felix, adding, “We both give each other advice. When we play a match in training or competition, we are both very serious about winning because then we can have bragging rights. It’s a good situation because both of us try to improve so we can beat the other but at the same time, we’re making each other be the best as possible.”

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