Rocks Lane’s Head of Padel Rafael Vega has revealed that this weekend’s Grade One event at ‘the lane’ is set to break records on the LTA Tour and with seven of the UK’s top-10 ranked male players competing he is confident the action is guaranteed to live up to the hype.
There are also separate women’s and senior male and female events at over 50’s and over 40’s, all at grade one level, and with battle having commenced Thursday in qualifying it is now down to the white-hot heat of the main draw with the finals on Sunday afternoon.
Vega, the current No.5 ranked player on the LTA grading system, is also competing with No.4 ranked long term padel partner Chris Salisbury and reckons satisfaction is guaranteed from what will be the emeritus event so far on the LTA Padel Tour.
He said: “The top players in the country are coming down to play here and we are delighted to have people in the LTA top-10 involved. It is really exciting! This is the biggest padel event the LTA has ever organised; we have 126 entries which is a great number and we have seven of the UK top-10 competing in the male event which is awesome.
“It is an elimination process and there will also be a consolation match if you lose the first game, but if you win you go into the draw for the next round.
“The winner gets £400 and we will be providing some great auxiliary prizes and also have a few rewards but the main thing is prize money.
“I also think the fact we have the social aspect guarantees a good turn up and adds to the day but the level of the tournament is important, some people play in professional events while some of the other players have never seen high quality matches of that calibre.
“It is quite amazing to have that level of entry and it helps with the growth of padel as well. Although I helped to organise the event, I will also be refereeing as well as playing, so today will be a busy one!”
Vega had a tennis background before venturing into padel on a social basis and has since gone on to become a vocal advocate for the latter.
He said: “I used to play tennis quite a lot when I was younger then my friends started playing padel and I moved here to London to coach while improving my English and then returned to Spain to complete my master’s degree in Madrid. After that I returned to the UK and now I’m here at Rocks Lane and loving it!
“We have six padel courts at the club and there are five more being built, I think the sport will continue to grow in the UK and we have also seen tennis clubs add padel courts to their facility.
“I think padel will get better recognition over time and for sure the sport’s future looks really bright.”
Find out more about Rocks Lane and tournament sponsors LTA and Playtomic.
