Christina Smith’s padel career may never have begun had it not been for months of intense isolation living under Dubai’s strict Covid lockdown rules.
The 35-year-old from Brentwood, Essex, first moved to the United Arab Emirates in 2015 to work for a magic circle law firm.
When the pandemic struck in 2020, local restrictions were intense. UAE residents were allowed out of their homes once a week only to visit the hospital, pharmacy or supermarket, and only with a police permit.
The sense of isolation this caused, especially to an ex-pat like Christina, was extreme. With her family all back in the UK, she spent months inside her apartment alone.
When restrictions were gradually eased, she found it extremely difficult to reassimilate, especially as offices were slow to re-open and employees were encouraged to continue working from home.
“I was really struggling to reintegrate into society,” Christina tells The Padel Paper. “I started thinking, ‘How do I meet people again?’ It was such a tough time.
“I was going through really long periods on my own. I thought to myself, ‘I’m still young! I need to get back out there and remember how to speak to people. I need to be active again!'”
“I willed myself to get into the car…”
As a youngster, Christina had played football to a high level as well as volleyball, track and field and rounders. Her solution became clear: sport could be her vehicle back into a normal life.
She noticed an Instagram influencer’s post about playing padel at a nearby club and found they were running beginners’ lessons. But the mental challenge of leaving her apartment and actually attending seemed like a gargantuan task.
“I willed myself to get to my car, and once I’d achieved that, I willed myself to drive to the club,” she recalls. “I told myself I didn’t have to speak to anyone, I just had to get through the lesson.
“But I met a really nice English girl who took me under her wing, then it escalated from there. I went every week, then it became twice a week, then three times and soon I was playing virtually every day.
“Padel was my lifeline, to be honest.”
Weekly coaching sessions with former Argentine champion Flor Delgado, plus matches and club tournaments saw Christina quickly become infatuated by the 20×10.
By 2024, she decided to take a career break. She spent all of it on the padel court. During this period, she came up with a “crazy idea” to try and make it on to the FIP circuit by the following year.
“At that stage, it seemed unrealistic, but I was putting in the hours on the court and in the gym,” she reflects. “I had a padel coach, a personal trainer, and was treating it as a full-time job — in addition to doing my full-time job!”
She started working for an American law firm in Dubai and her new bosses soon understood that padel played a huge part in her life. Christina openly describes her salary as “sponsorship for padel.”
Embarking on a FIP adventure
Christina found a willing partner in Dubai, began intensive training and they signed up for a FIP debut in Doha in early 2025. Devastatingly, Christina tore her miniscus in training the day before they were set to travel and spent weeks on crutches during a three-month recovery.
Her pro tour debut eventually arrived last April at a FIP Silver on home turf in Dubai. She partnered with a Dubai-based Ukrainian player and lost 6-0, 6-1 in the first round of the main draw. Further forays in Cyprus (where she played GB’s Tia Norton) and Abu Dhabi saw her reach the round of 16.
She moved back to playing on the right (her preferred side) but it meant looking for another partner to play with. Checking the FIP list for fellow Brits, she started reaching out to them on Instagram. “I was a bit of a stalker!” she jokes.
She had a reply from fellow Essex girl Olivia Çiftçi (pictured below) and last August the two strangers embarked on a flurry of flights to tournaments in Gran Canaria and Belgrade and coaching at Brentwood Padel Club, Spain and Portugal — using up most of Christina’s annual leave in the process!
She ended last year with further FIP tournaments in Dubai and Bahrain and reached world no.404, making her the GB no.8.
Christina’s next goal is to feature on the radar of GB women’s coach Libby Fletcher, and make the GB Seniors team.
“I’m aiming for 10 or 15 FIP tournaments this year, including a couple in the UK, all in my 25 days of annual leave – so wish me luck!” she chuckles.
When we speak, Christina is about to set off for events in Qatar and Bahrain (the former will also feature her fellow Essex girl, GB no.1 Aimee Gibson).
She also wants to help support other aspiring grassroots players, particularly British ex-pats playing abroad who may otherwise go under the radar. Moreover, she wants to show that elite sport is not a black and white pathway. Through resilience and commitment, it is never too late to start and compete.
