Aimee Gibson believes she owes her meteoric rise to the top of GB women’s padel to the expertise of her coach Dan Troy.
The former UK top-15 ranked tennis player made the full transition to padel just six months ago and has now won four LTA British Tour titles with a variety of partners, most recently at We Are Padel Derby last weekend when she partnered GB No.1 Tia Norton to victory in the Grade One event.
The 31-year-old has already set her sights on becoming a GB international but is in no doubt about the importance of Troy’s influence at her Padel United Malden base. She was keen to dedicate her victory in Derby to her very own Trojan hero.
Gibson said: “Dan has done so much for me. He has really worked wonders on my game. At the start I was playing tennis on a padel court! Now Dan has taught me the game properly and really made sure my basics are solid and my understanding of the game is good.
“I don’t think Dan gets much recognition, so I’d like to give him a shout out as he has put a lot of hard work into my game and it has made a real difference.”
Gibson, a former Essex county No.1 tennis player, only took up padel last year when she was teaching tennis in Dubai. When she moved back to the UK six months ago, she hooked up with Troy and her padel fascination started to develop.
To date, she has won the Stratford Grade One alongside Laura Deigman and events at Surge in Harrogate, Rocks Lane in London and WAP in Derby with Norton.
Reflecting on her victory in Derby, Gibson said: “The organisation and the venue were amazing, it was just so professional.
“In the final it was nice to play the two Dutch players [Liza Groenveld and Janine Hemmes, who she and Norton beat 6-3, 6-1] and come up against someone different rather than other Brits.
“In the semis I had never played against Libby Fletcher and Claire Smith before. They are very experienced but Tia and I played solidly and after the first couple of games we had clear tactics of what we wanted to do and we stuck to them, stayed relaxed and that got us through.”
With three titles in the bag already, Gibson’s partnership with Norton has rich potential. She explained: “I met Tia when I won at Stratford. We were just speaking to each other and as Laura wasn’t around for the next few tournaments it went from there.
“Tia is quite an aggressive player whereas I am more consistent. She likes to take the balls that need to be hit whereas I like to be patient so we gel quite well together.
“I know Tia has been playing a lot longer than me and she has a Spanish partner [Carlo Fito Fernandez] but I am looking to play international tournaments. Whether that will be with Tia I am not sure, but we enjoy partnering up and we are definitely hoping to play all the British events.”
When it comes to her next big goal, Gibson has no doubts: “To make Team GB is probably one of my main goals. I have tried really hard to play all the Grade Ones and see how I do there and how quickly I can improve my game.
“Alvaro [Guerrero, GB women’s team coach] has been watching some of my matches while Max [Lutostanski, assistant GB women’s coach] has also been really supportive. It’s nice to know they are monitoring my progress.
“I’ve played six tournaments now and I want to be top-five in the UK. I think I am pretty much there now so next I’d like to get some international points.”
Gibson next heads to Barcelona for three days’ training with Paula Eyheraquibel, the former world No.1, at Esportiu Valldoreix. She commented: “I’m sure it will be an amazing experience and it is one I am very excited about.”
