Great Britain U18 No.1 Ben Phillips proved he’s in fine fettle ahead of this month’s FIP Euro Junior Padel Cup in Porto by winning a landmark FIP Promises title in Grosseto, Italy.
Phillips, from Nottingham, played alongside Spaniard Alonso Moreno Muñoz for the first time as both are trained by Rocks Lane coach Ale Grillo.
The British-Spanish pairing sailed through the opening two rounds, dropping just one game. The semi-final was a tougher test against the second-seeded Spanish pair Jorge Cuenca Tornero and Martin Araguete Sales, who forced Phillips and Moreno to a tiebreak victory in the second set after they’d taken the first comfortably 6-1.
In the final, it was time to meet the top seeds, Italian pair Leon Oleatti and Francesco Cocco, and Phillips and Moreno dominated, winning 6-2, 6-1.
With that title, Phillips is now in the top 30 in the world under-18 male rankings, and has scooped another historic achievement in a British context.
First British FIP Promises U18 title winner…
He told The Padel Paper: “Amazing to get my first FIP Promises win. I’m not sure if I’m the first UK junior to do so for under-18 male, maybe I am.
“It was an amazing win. Quick courts, smash was good. Training hard with Ale so my game’s going well. I thought tactically we played it super well, beating some good teams, building the point to get my smash involved.”
Phillips is hitting his straps in good time, as at the end of June, he’ll represent Great Britain in the FIP Junior Euro Padel Cup.
Between now and then, he’s tuning his game up by training in Valencia, before heading back to Britain for FIP Promises Cardiff as his next warm-up for the big event, where he’ll play with British under-18 No.2 and GB team-mate Cochise Bennett.
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