Home success was thin on the ground at last weekend’s HOP British Padel Open with just one British player progressing beyond the quarter-finals.
British men’s No.1 and world No.138 Christian Medina Murphy was the sole player with a union flag next to his name in the semi-final line-up, but he and partner Miguel Angel Solbes went down 7-6 6-4 to Portuguese brothers Miguel and Nuno Deus.
The Deus brothers went on to lose to Swedish pair Simon Vasquez and Daniel Windahl in a three-set final.
Eighth seed Sam Jones was the only other men’s doubles quarter-finalist from the host nation but, playing with Iago Gonzalez Nino, the London-born British No.2 was defeated 6-3 6-3 by Miguel and Javier Navarro Perez.
In the women’s draw, defending champion Tia Norton and partner Rosalie van der Hoek received a brutal draw, coming up against top seeds Marcella Koek and Stephanie Weterings.
They went down 6-4 6-3 – and the Dutch pairing proceeded to race through the rest of the weekend without dropping a set, lifting the FIP RISE trophy courtesy of a 6-4 6-2 win over Candela Lucendo Millan and Aida Martinez Sanjuan.
That run included a quarter-final triumph over British pair Sophie Haine and Lisa Phillips, who were the only home pairing to reach that stage.
It was the second year of the HOP London Padel Open at the LTA National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, with sell-out crowds on all three days of main draw action.
