Aimee Gibson and Catherine Rose continued their fabulous form by cruising to victory in the first LTA Padel British Tour Grade 1 event of 2025 at Slazenger Padel Club in Leeds.
The British No.1 and 2 respectively, Aimee and Catherine came into the event off the back of a stunning brave of wins in FIP Silver competitions in Sydney and Melbourne, followed by a run to the final of a FIP Bronze in Qatar.
After a week of training back on home soil, the top-seeded pair comfortably won their third title of the year, rattling through the draw without dropping a set and overcoming fellow Brit Ellie Tait and her Belgian partner Rune Vierendeels 6-2 6-2 in the final.
Aimee said afterwards: “We’re really happy to win the final here in Leeds. We really enjoy playing in the HOP events and it was nice to win a tournament in England while we were home before heading off to FIP gold Portugal next week.”
The competition in Leeds, promoted by Home of Padel (HOP), was the first LTA Grade 1 event of 2025 to take place across England, Scotland, and the Channel Islands as part of the British Tour, which encompasses the top padel competitions in Great Britain. Grade 1 events see the best British players and international competitors competing in standout events, across full weekends, for prize money. Acceptance onto British Tour events is based on players’ LTA Padel Ranking.
In the 32-strong men’s draw of the Leeds event, Spanish third seeds Karlos Rodriguez Vidal and Marcos Gonzalez overcame the fifth-seeded British duo of Louie Harris and Alexander Loughlan 6-3 7-5.
The Spaniards said: “We are extremely happy to have played our first HOP LTA Grade 1 event and obtaining the best possible outcome winning the title. The organisation of the tournament has been amazing. We both had very warm welcomes. We are already looking forward to coming back to defend this title at the next HOP event.”
Javi Serrats from Home Of Padel said: “It has been great having the opportunity of running the first Major event of the LTA British Tour G1 as part of our adidas HOP Pro Tour 2025 at Slazenger Padel Club, which has welcomed us with open arms helping us delivering this stand out event with the highest level to date in a British Tour event. Matches were very tight throughout the weekend with highly ranked FIP pairs winning the titles in both categories. Thanks to our sponsors for the support. Looking forward to the next event in our calendar.”
