GB no.2s Aimee Gibson and Sam Jones have received the ‘Padel Player of the Year’ trophies at the 2024 LTA Tennis Awards.
Aimee has risen to no.149 in the world (and is not far off becoming GB no.1) in her first year as a full-time professional. She won her first FIP Tour title in Cairo in March and later this month will represent GB in a major tournament for the first time at the European Championships in Cagliari, Italy.
The 32-year-old collected her trophy at a glittering ceremony at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton before being whisked off for VIP treatment with her parents on day two of Wimbledon.
“It’s a massive honour and I’m very grateful for the award,” she told The Padel Paper. “I haven’t been playing all that long but I am proud of what I have achieved since the beginning of last year.
“It feels like the last year has gone by so quickly. It’s crazy. Last year, winning the LTA Grade 1 titles made me so happy, but now breaking into the world’s top 150, I can’t really believe it. It has taken a hell of a lot of hard work.”
Aimee is focused only on lifting her world ranking, getting better draws and going deeper in international FIP competitions, rather than where that takes her within the GB hierarchy.
“My goal for this year was to break the top 140 and I’m very close now,” she said. “If I can reach that and eventually be in the top 100, that would be the biggest goal for me, but becoming the GB isn’t something that I’ve really thought about. It would just be an added bonus.”
Left-hander Aimee has quickly gained a reputation for her work ethic, ambition and dedication to her craft. “I’m very competitive,” she admitted. “I am almost addicted to the game. I watch it all the time and learn anything I can from whoever I meet, play and practise with. When I’m in Spain, I give it my all with the coaches there. I’m just loving it.”
Male award winner Sam has been hammering the Premier Padel tournaments this year in a bid to lift his world ranking towards the top 100. He is currently 170 after three tournaments in May and another three in June, including the Premier Padel Major in Italy (where he and Ricky Martínez Sánchez were beaten by the top seeds) and a run to the semi-finals of the FIP Promotion Antalya.
