Great Britain’s rising padel star, U18 No.1 Ben Phillips, is one of 12 Brits handed a wildcard entry to the much-anticipated London Premier Padel P1 — but he’s had to defy a dire doctor’s prognosis to take his place in next week’s draw.
Phillips, 17, will become the youngest Brit ever to play in Premier Padel, the sport’s elite global circuit, when he lines up with partner Jamie Lobo Wordsworth in qualifying in London (though the sample size is admittedly small at this point).
Hopes are that the London event will showcase the British talent so that pool can continue to grow, and the Nottingham native has his own goals following on from that.
“Playing a Premier Padel event was always the dream and I never expected I would be playing a P1 in 2026,” Ben tells The Padel Paper. “It’s a dream come true and only inspires me to be playing Premier Padel week in, week out.
“To receive a wildcard from the LTA is a huge confidence boost and it’s great to see the trust they have in me.”
But the realisation of that dream in the showpiece London event is one that nearly went up in ash when Ben fell off his bike on the way to training at Rocks Lane in late June, fracturing his wrist in the process.
He was told in A&E that he’d be out of action for up to eight weeks, meaning he’d miss the FIP Junior Euro Padel Cup, an LTA Grade 1 event and, most gravely, London P1.
“I refused to accept that…”
“I refused to accept that and contacted a friend of mine, Professor Moran in Nottingham QMC, which helped me recover as soon as possible and I got the new cast on two days later.” Ben explains.
“He told me I would wear it for four weeks minimum and it would be ‘touch and go’ whether I’d be able to play in the European Championships.”
Not only did Ben represent Great Britain there, but he won the following LTA Grade 1 alongside Sam Jones and is playing a couple of FIP events prior to heading to London’s inaugural Premier Padel tournament.
“I’ve been to Seville for four days’ training with Jamie in preparation for the P1,” he says. “We’re also playing FIP Silver Jersey together next week. Winning the Grade 1 with Sam was also great, to see where my level is and a good confidence boost before the P1.”
The fracture has obviously not been without its issues, though. Ben has not been able to weight train on his left side during recovery, and has been limited with what he can do while wearing a cast, which came off exactly two weeks prior to London.
But he’s seemingly succeeding in the battle to manage it and is ready to put that fighting spirit to the test on Premier Padel debut.
“Qualifying is obviously going to be super tough but me and Jamie have played together several times before and understand each other well. We’ve played high ranked pairs before so we’ll see how it goes,” Ben explains.
