Catherine Rose became the fourth British woman to win a FIP Rise title with victory alongside Aimee Gibson in yet another landmark weekend for GB women’s padel.
Close friends Catherine and Aimee teamed up at FIP Rise Doha in Qatar and headed into the competition as top seeds. Their 6-0 6-3 victory over Spanish duo Ainize Landa and Natalia Paniagua in the final was a triumph of tactical planning, strategic adjustments and adapting to capricious conditions.
Having never played together on Tour before, Rose switched from her usual left-side role to the right to gel with left-hander Aimee. They faced humid conditions on day one, but adjusted quickly when the weather abruptly changed and become colder and much windier thereafter.
After the winning point in the final, Aimee fell to the floor in exhaustion and relief. The Essex player has had a brutally tough recent travelling and competitive schedule, so to claim the victory was a special moment for both Brits.
Catherine told The Padel Paper: “To get my first FIP title is such a nice way to end the year and to do it with Aimee was extra special as we’re such good mates off court. We just get each other. It really just worked this week.”
The 25-year-old resigned from her teaching job in July to go full-time on the world tour with the backing of R3 Sport – and the bold career move is paying divends with a rise into the world’s top 150 and a key role in the Great Britain squad in September’s European Championships in Sardinia.
Aimee said: “This was almost the perfect tournament. The location, the courts, the hotel, the club, the people… everything was so professional. Going into it, we were really relaxed and even though we were top seeds, we didn’t really have high expectations and just wanted to enjoy playing together.
“Going into the final, we knew the two Spanish girls had beaten the second seeds in the semi-final, but we had a really good game plan in mind. We played it perfectly. It was a really good feeling for me because in Manila the final had been a little bit of an anti-climax [when one of their opponents withdrew injured].”
The last few weeks have seen a succession of landmark achievements in British women’s padel. Aimee and Victoria Nicholas achieved their first ever FIP Rise titles in the Philippines, then last week in Acapulco, Tia Norton became the first British woman to qualify for the main draw at a Premier Padel event.
“There so many good things happening at the minute for British padel that I feel it’s only going in one direction,” said Catherine, who now travels with Aimee to compete together again at this week’s FIP Rise Abu Dhabi.
Both players feel the restructuring of the lower tiers of the FIP world tour in 2025 will be advantageous to their ambitions of ascending further up the world rankings.
Catherine said: “Up until now the jump to Premier Padel level has been so big that there’s not really enough opportunity to make that leap to playing in higher level tournaments and getting more points. It has seemed almost impossible. Now, with more tournaments with more points on offer, it seems a lot more realistic to climb the rankings quicker.
“Currently, girls in Premier Padel are getting so many points by just being there every single week. We’re having to hustle at these lower tournaments without getting that many points – unless we win them! The changes they’re bringing in will help us close that gap.”
