GB no.2 Catherine Rose has become the second British padel player ever to break into the top 100 of the FIP world rankings.
A run to the semi-finals of last weekend’s FIP Bronze R3 Bullpadel Cup in Luxembourg alongside compatriot Tia Norton was enough to propel 26-year-old Catherine nine places up the rankings into world no.95.
In doing so, the Londoner matches the achievement of current GB no.1 Aimee Gibson, who was the first British player, male or female, to reach the historic landmark in January of this year.
“It was a nice surprise this morning,” said Catherine on learning of her updated ranking. “I’m really, really happy to break into the top 100, it was one of my goals for this year. I hadn’t been paying much attention to the rankings recently, I was focusing on tournaments and trying to get really good results every week.
“Overall it’s definitely a credit to myself for the hard work and determination. It’s taken a lot, but a massive thank you to everyone along the way that helped that journey. It’s much appreciated.”
Catherine started 2025 with two FIP Silver titles in Australia alongside Aimee. Since then, she has reached the quarter-finals or better in 14 tournaments on the Cupra FIP Tour, with three semi-finals and a final in Qatar to go with her two titles down under.
“Now I can push on, move forward and focus on the next goal and keep improving from here,” Catherine told the LTA.
Rose is supported by the LTA’s Padel Performance Pathway and is also part of the Pro Padel Scholarship Programme (PPSP) which supports male and female players who have the potential to progress into the top 50 world rankings within four years of joining the programme.
Players are also further supported through their sponsors, venues and coaches working behind-the-scenes and Rose attributes her rapid development over the last year to all of these factors in combination.
“I want to thank the LTA for all the support, my main sponsors such as R3, I couldn’t be doing this without the support of them. They’ve been a key driver in facilitating the time I have to play, compete and train. As well as my other sponsors like The Padel Hub, Vitamin Well, Light Therapy London, they’ve all played a massive part as have all the coaches, including Libby Fletcher [LTA National Performance Pathway Manager] and Sandy Farquharson, [LTA National Performance Coach]. So many people have made so much time to help me improve.”
The ranking boost comes a month before Catherine and the rest of the GB team travel to La Línea de la Concepción in Cádiz, Spain to compete against the top European nations in the Final 8 of the FIP Euro Padel Cup. In July, both the men’s and women’s teams qualified for the Final 8 after finishing top of their respective groups in Phase 2 of the competition in Madrid.
