Aimee Gibson and Tia Norton fell just short of winning the women’s title at last weekend’s LTA Grade 1 at Island Padel in Jersey.
The British nos.1 and 2 raced through their opening two matches without so much as dropping a game, then lost just one in their semi-final against Jo Ward and Helen Crook. In the final, however, they met Spanish duo Valeria Atencia Basilio and Anna Ortiz Gasco, the world no.123 and no.118 respectively.
With Aimee and Tia currently 136 and 149 in the world, it looked like an evenly-balanced encounter on paper, and so it proved in front of a packed gallery of islanders.
Valeria and Anna took it 7-6 6-4 to deny the GB duo, who won their last LTA Grade 1 event together at Stratford Padel Club in May and also teamed up at the European Championships in Sardinia.
GB no.3 Catherine Rose also made the trip over from the mainland and reached the semi-finals alongside Clara Siverio Trujillo, where they lost 6-3 6-3 to the eventual title winners Valeria and Anna.
In the previous round, the Spanish pair had beaten promising teenagers Chloe de la Mare and Rosie Quirk, who had only just returned from the European Junior Championships in Budapest.
In the men’s draw in Jersey, UK-based Spaniard Rafael Vega teamed up with world no.162 Julien Seurin of France and they cruised to the title without dropping a set, beating sixth seeds Olly Cull and Pau Minano (world no.240) 6-4 6-2.
Olly and Pau had narrowly beaten GB internationals Louie Harris and Chris Salisbury, the second seeds, 7-6 (8) 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals. They then beat Ethan Bardo and Martin Pineiro who had to retire from their semi-final due to injury after losing the first set 6-4.
The event was particularly special for hosts Island Padel, whose club was battered by Storm Ciaran on 31 October last year and forced to close fully for three months and even then only re-open partially until April.
Island Padel co-founder, Scott Clayton, expressed his gratitude: “I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who helped us put this tournament together – particularly Rathbones, our exclusive sponsor, they have been with us since the ground up… twice!
“We were told by the LTA we had been given the opportunity to host this event again just after Storm Ciarán, that gave us a lot of motivation to get the facility back up and running. Everyone really banded together to support us, and seeing the whole community come together for this event was really special.”
Check all the results from the LTA Padel National Tour Grade 1 in Jersey here.
