The scoreboard said straight sets, but the emotions told a different story as Aimee Gibson and Catherine Rose did Great Britain proud on day one at the stunning London Premier Padel P1.
Roared on in the biggest match of their lives by a partisan home crowd, GB’s two best players pushed a world top-40 pair to their limits on Olympia’s centre court on day one of the main draw at the UK’s eagerly-anticipated debut Premier Padel event.
Facing world no.34 Ksenia Sharifova of Russia and no.37 and French no.1 Alix Collombon, the GB no.1 and no.2’s task always looked tough. Indeed, the GB team-mates started somewhat trepidatiously, with left-hander Gibson later admitting to understandable early nerves on such a big occasion.
The first set disappeared 6-1 with the French-Russian pair winning 100% of points on their own serve. The second, though, was a different story.
In the sixth game, Gibson finished a marathon point with a pinpoint smash and a roar of celebration. It was a key moment which seemed to settle both home players down.
They then produced an utterly impeccable game to level at 4-4 and their rousing purple patch extended the set into a tiebreak. The margins were wafer thin, but it was the favourites who edged it 7-5 amidst a flurry of elite-quality rallies.
“I was receiving a lot of balls and the rallies were long so I felt my legs were quite heavy in the first set,” Gibson told The Padel Paper courtside.
“As soon as I could express my game in the second set, I felt we rose to a good level and it just came down to a couple of points in the tiebreak.
“They’re playing Premier Padel every week and are used to these big occasions. Maybe shot choice on key points also played its part. They are simply used to this level week in, week out.”
Mobbed by friends and fans afterwards, the 34-year-old from Essex couldn’t stop a few tears from falling.
“There’s a lot of emotions,” she said. “I’ve just started crying for no reason! On such a big stage in front of so many people, you just want to do them proud. We’ll try again next year.”
GB no.3 Tia Norton was the other British woman to be given a wildcard by the LTA. Partnering Belgium’s Helena Wyckaert in the first round of qualifying on Monday, 22-year-old Norton put in a highly admirable performance against Spanish pair Ariadna Canellas Rodero and Amanda Lope Moral, who are both in the world’s top 60. The final score was 6-4, 6-4.
