Pic: Dorado Padel Centre
By RJ Mitchell
LOUIE HARRIS has set his sights on making a ‘major’ breakthrough after being inspired by viewing last weekend’s Italy Major at the Foro Italico.
The Great Britain International was recently buoyed by a runners-up finish with Sam Jones at the LTA National Padel Tour event in Stratford.
Now, in the first part of a two-stanza exclusive with The Padel Paper, the Marbella-based padel ace has revealed his plans for the summer.
The hugely talented 19-year-old is hoping that he may receive a wild card to compete at Roland Garros at the summer’s next major padel championship while admitting that his route to Paris may force him to endure the tortures of qualification with Dutch partner Sten Richters.
Yet the six-foot-three Welshman, whose power smashing wowed Padel fans at Stratford, has no doubt that his ultimate ambitions lie in one day sharing a court with the likes of World No.1 pairing Juan Lebrón Chincoa and Alejandro Galán, who captured the Italy Major in front of an enraptured 7,000 crowd in the Eternal City.
Harris said: “Absolutely, that is where I want to be. The goal is to be able to make it to that level and play in the majors, to climb up the rankings and get to a point where we are entering these tournaments and competing with the best regularly.
“I watched it (Italy Major) live on You Tube 100% and especially the final. Well, you are talking about the best players on the planet and with Lebrón you are talking the very best. As a pairing along with Galán they just have that something special.
“They are very talented naturally but they have been playing all their lives and they are at a stage where they can do things that not many players can.
“Lebrón in particular has another edge of talent over everyone else. A lot of players on tour are very similar in terms of skill base but he has a few more tools and shots, extra things in the bag that for other players no matter how hard they work they will never have.
“So, he is just more gifted in a natural sense and on top of that he just works so hard. Lebrón and his partner Galán are rightly the No.1s.
“But one day I’d love to face the best on the highest stage and it would be a dream to face Lebrón and Galán.”
The next ‘Major,’ the Paris Premier Padel Major, will be played at Roland-Garros from July 11-17 as part of a multi-year agreement and will feature the top ranked players in the sport, offering competitors 2,000 ranking points as well as a record-breaking prize fund.
Looking forward, the Welsh Giant is desperate to make his major debut in the French capital at the historic home of clay court tennis.
Harris said: “At the moment I am playing with a Dutchman called Sten Richters and we have signed up for Roland-Garros, made the registration and also applied for a wild card to get in the draw.
“Now it is a question of waiting to see if Sten and I can enter the tournament on points which will be pretty tough as the cut-off point is high.
“We recently met in Madrid and have just started to partner up for the forthcoming tournaments and the early signs are positive that we can form a good team and develop a strong understanding.
“So, it is just a matter of time to see how many pairs enter the draw and if we then make the cut – off point. I think the Paris draw is 56 pairs for the main draw and then eight wild card pairings, so 64 pairs overall.
“But it is all about levels. If you take the main draw like the one in the Italy Major then below that you have qualies and pre qualifying. The level I am playing at the moment is pre qualies and that means you can win a few matches in that pre qualies stage but it is still a bit away from making the main draw of the tournament which is where my ultimate goal lies.
“At the moment in pre-qualies you might win your first match and then lose the next or even win a couple and then come up short so it is tough.
“The Stratford Tournament was the highest level that there is in the UK, which is a great one but at the same time it is not a very consistent level and there can be quite a difference between each pairing, perhaps you will only get one, two or three pairs that are pre qualie level from the main tour but that is unlikely.
“At Stratford there were a few Spanish players who flew over and that bumped the level up. But your normal tournaments in the UK are quite far away from pre qualis at something like the Italy Major and that is why we always play the tournaments in other countries.
“Next I am travelling to Holland and will be staying there for around four weeks as there are several tournaments at pro level, albeit that the 16 best players in the world will be excluded, but they are still very high level internationally and myself and Sten will be doing our best to really go deep in these.”
In tomorrow’s Part 2 of our exclusive interview with the GB star, Louie Harris will reveal the technical improvements he is working on to take his game to the elite level, share a helpful tip to boost development for club players, and explain his excitement over the burgeoning UK Padel scene being masterminded by the LTA.
