Alexis and Felix, and the French table tennis sibling story

Paris: The mother of Felix and Alexis, who make up the key ingredients of Team Lebrun and have cooked up a sibling special in French sport, knew the moment her sons were destined for a journey in table tennis.
When one day Felix just wouldn’t stop crying. “He wanted to go to ping pong with his dad. He was sobbing so much,” Dominique Lebrun says. “He must have been 18 months.”
At 17 years, here he is — representing France alongside the older Alexis at their home Olympics; taking a shot at a first ever table tennis medal for his country at the Games in the bronze medal match on Sunday (he lost to China’s Fan Zhendong in the semi-finals on Friday); teaming up with Alexis for next week’s team events hoping to go deep in it too.
Backing the brothers is all of France, and indeed all of Paris seems to flock to the South Paris Arena for their matches. You know a Lebrun is in action when throbbing chants reach a crescendo. Harmeet Desai felt that in his first round against Felix. So did Lin Yun-ju in the quarters for which Alexis — he had lost in the previous round — was shouting along from the stands.
Felix, younger by three years to Alexis, 20, is the world No.5, the only non-Chinese in the top five. Alexis, ranked 16th, beat Fan, the then dominant world No.1, last year. The two marshalled the French team to silver at this year’s World Team Championships in Busan, losing only to China. Individually and together, their upsurge in world TT has been entrancing.
Their rise to global stardom has its roots in Montpellier, in southern France, where they grew up in a family of paddlers. Their father, Stephane, played the sport at the top level and their uncle, Christophe Legout, was a three-time Olympic table tennis player. Both kids played multiple sports — TT, tennis and basketball — but ping pong, as they call it, would always be their calling since picking it up at age three.
“My dad and uncle probably had an influence, but I anyway liked playing video games and going to watch ping pong,” Felix says.
“I didn’t ask myself any questions. I loved being in a ping pong room,” Alexis says.
Alexis went up the ladder first, taking the junior national title in 2020. Injuries pegged him back a bit even as Felix briskly came along, with help from various directions of his family and a Chinese with a unique grip who trained in Istres, a town near Marseille.
“All the players I used to meet when I went to watch my father and uncle’s games in Istres influenced me,” Felix said. “And Chen Jian inspired me to use the penholder grip. Of course, Alexis helped me a lot in terms of learning about table tennis and how I can play.”
Play they did alright, notching up promising results. Their big boom came over the last couple of years. Both brothers reckon it’s a consequence of training with each other during the Covid pandemic, and reuniting with their first coach Nathanael Molin.
“My father really appreciated him and knew his skills and motivation,” Alexis says. “They talked a lot together and decided to create Team Lebrun.”
Team Lebrun has since been on a roll. Felix captured the 2023 European Games gold, a bunch of WTT Contender titles, including in Goa this year, and broke into the top five. Alexis took bronze in that same tournament, won a third straight national title this year and is part of a rare Fan-beating club.
It may not have been for Felix against Fan on Friday, but the TT world looks at the Lebruns as future challengers to the Chinese stranglehold on the sport.
“It’s a big challenge for us and an exciting one, and I think people say this because we arrived very fast on the top of the ranking,” Felix says. “We know how difficult it is to beat the Chinese. But we do believe that we can do it.”
Alexis has watched his younger brother zoom past him and yet, in this “pure relationship”, he couldn’t be prouder. “I am very happy and proud of our journey for both of us. I know it’s quite rare,” he says. “Felix is an incredible player, very young to be in the top 5. I don’t see him as a competitor, except when I have to play him in an official match.”
That’s where Alexis has the bragging rights, and for which Felix often gets teased about. Alexis has always beaten Felix in an official match, including twice in the final of their national championships in 2023 and 2024. Felix stood weeping on court after last year’s final while Alexis egged the crowd on in celebrations. Once done, he went up to put his arm around Felix. They’re rivals. They’re brothers.
“I’m a little bit front of him in the rankings, so we each have our own little victory,” Felix chuckles. “Of course, I want to beat him one time in a match. I’ve already beaten him in training, so maybe soon in real matches!”
The two share all that banter spending time together travelling the world for tournaments. They go for walks, play Switch, watch YouTube videos, warm up together and talk plenty of TT, except if the other isn’t in the mood to. “We can easily tell each other when we need some quiet time,” Alexis says.
“We go out to eat with friends or in Alexis’s apartment — just doing normal things in life with your brothers,” Felix says.
The mother wouldn’t have it any other way. “They’re just brothers who get on really well. They’re happy to be together,” Dominique says. “They’ve been close ever since they were little, and it’s a real blessing for them to be able to share the same passion.”
And the same goals. Both want to continue climbing up the rankings, winning big tournaments and medals and breaking new ground in world table tennis. And with it, continue turning chapters of history for French table tennis and sport.
“Winning major competitions gives you great emotions, and I want to feel that for a long time to come,” Felix says. “If I can experience them with my brother at the Olympic Games, I’ll be even happier.”