If you walked into Manchester’s Carbon Padel Club around 2pm on Monday January 12, you’d have immediately been greeted by the sight of GB no.1 Christian Medina Murphy and U18 no.1 Ben Phillips sat on a sofa alongside one another, having a very friendly conversation.
Over the next couple of hours, spectators watched 17-year-old Phillips very much hold his own in an exhibition match involving Medina Murphy and British No.3 Louie Harris, with the pace of the game appearing comfortable despite the benefit of age and experience being with the other players.
The phrase, “Shot, Ben!” was noticeably uttered often, an indication both of the respect from his elders, and how comfortable they are with sarcastically jibing at him when he gets it wrong.
A content opportunity for Channel 4 was by no means the highest of stakes, but that Phillips can cut it with the greatest player in Britain over most of the last decade is a great sign for a talent seen as one of the country’s best chances for a top 100 global spot, something Medina Murphy himself is yet to manage. The padel prodigy is aware there’s still a way to go, though.
“In the UK I can compete with the men,” Phillips tells The Padel Paper. “The best in the GB team are still a level ahead, but you can compete with them. I think the advantage they have is the experience. When you play juniors you feel more confident because you’re the same age as them, [it’s an] equal playing field.”
The Nottingham lad has never played with or against Medina Murphy in a competitive match, but evidently wants to learn more from him up close. He is currently shadowing the GB no.1 and has flown out to his training base in Spain.
“I’m actually moving to Alicante to train in his group,” Phillips reveals. “He’s a real mentor and role model for me. The way he lives, trains and acts off the court, I think he’s taken me under his wing a little bit and he’s guiding me on the right path.”
Medina Murphy is more than happy with his role as one of Phillips’ mentors in the game, discussing his development with The Padel Paper.
“The level in the country is really nice to see, players like Ben improving that fast, because he started like two, three years ago. He comes from tennis, he has a good background and he is now the best under-18 and I think that’s a really good signal that he’s improving that fast,” Medina Murphy explains.
“To have the option to help him in his development here in Spain as a player, obviously for me it’s really nice, because I think we need more players like Ben in the GB team to try to fight against the toughest countries in the future, in the European and in the World Championship. I think he has really good talent.
“I really like to try to help him, to show him the way so it’s going to be easier for him to go on the tour. He knows I believe he has the option to try to improve in the ranking, to be on the [GB] team soon and let’s see how he’s going here in Spain, because now we are going to have really good group sessions, really good coaches with him.”
The decision to head to Spain is also partly logistical for Phillips, with a number of competitive assignments taking place either there or in nearby Portugal. He went to Mallorca and Valencia for FIP Bronze events in January and is soon heading to Madeira and Portugal where he’ll play alongside fellow Brit Jamie Lobo Wordsworth.
“Spain won’t be my permanent base due to visa complications. It’s unbelievable that the best juniors, including me and Stan [Hunt, fellow GB under-18] can’t stay, it’s actually crazy.”
Knowing he wanted to head out to Spain, Phillips had the forethought to set up a GoFundMe last summer for his stay, and was also thankful for help from sponsors Raquex, the Padel Shack, Skechers, and another he can’t yet disclose, for their help.
What comes next for Phillips will hopefully be some level of success in the FIP Bronzes – after he reached the semi-finals of the Promises event in Valencia earlier in January – and continuing to play in men’s tournaments. Beyond that, he’ll return to the UK to train at Rocks Lane in London, with one eye clearly on more time in Spain.
“I’m looking at the next three, four years just to play FIPs, maybe two a month, try and build that experience and confidence at that level,” he states.
“I’m doing a Spanish course online and then doing [school] bits here and there, and I’ll definitely need to learn Spanish, 100 per cent. It’s so important for connections, partners, everything.”
Should Medina Murphy be scared Phillips is coming for his crown as the best in Britain? He has his eye focussed more on how the 17-year-old can help to challenge the powerhouses of global padel.
The world no.118 said: “Obviously Spain, Argentina, Italy, Sweden are starting to have really, really good young players and it’s going to be tough to fight against them. At the moment they are far away from us but with players like Ben and a few more that are coming we are going to have chances in the future to be on that level.”
