By RJ Mitchell
HANSIE RUDDICK has revealed how much she is looking forward to facing off against former GB No.1 tennis player Laura Robson in tomorrow’s opening round of the FIP Rise London Padel Open women’s event.
The GB padel international and partner Ivet Val Lopez will face Robson and her sidekick Sian Bayliss in a high-noon shoot-out at the National Tennis Centre in what will be Robson’s first professional competitive match.
At 33-years-old Ruddick is the most experienced member of the Team GB women’s team and last year she enjoyed her best result when she made it into the main draw of the prestigious World Padel Tour event in Calanda, Spain.
With Robson’s partner Sian Bayliss also a tennis player, who once enjoyed a WTA ranking of 319, making the transition to padel, Ruddick admits that her partnership with Lopez is facing a journey into the unknown.
Ruddick said: “I have seen Laura play tennis at Wimbledon and obviously padel is a very different game but if you have a racket sport background it will definitely give you an advantage. The whole concept of the walls, certainly for me at the beginning, was something that took a bit of getting used to and that might be something that is to our advantage so it is hard to know what we will be facing.
“I myself came from tennis so I have a knowledge of what it is like being a padel novice and also of what it is like playing against them and what you can’t do is get distracted by who is on the other side of the net.
“Really it is important to focus on what you do and what you need to do to get the job in hand done.
“That said Laura will have that eye to hand coordination and from doubles in tennis tactically she will have an appreciation of how to play, so I am looking forward to it and it should be good fun.”
The prospect of playing a debutante padel partnership would suggest that all the pressure should be on Ruddick and Lopez but given they too are a rookie pairing has meant the Team GB ace rejected any notion that a burden of expectancy may prove a heavy one.
Ruddick said: “I am playing with a new partner in Ivet and we have put in some good work this week at the NTC in preparation and we will be taking it point by point and not worrying about any bigger picture.
“I am feeling good and although it will be the first time Ivet and I have played together from our work this week in preparation our chemistry is good, we have communicated well, and I feel like there is no expectation on us but we are here to go for the win.
“It is very much taking it match by match and then see where that takes us. I am a big believer in getting the process right will in turn bring the results and that is how we are approaching our first match with Laura and Sian.
“But it is just great to be looking forward to playing the FIP Rise London Open at the NTC and a massive moment for padel in the UK. It is something I have looked forward to for a while now.”
In the other midday clash GB No.1 Tia Norton and partner Carla Fito Fernandez face Rosa Alonso and Julia Garcia while top seeds Maaike Betz and Natalia Sanz Garcia open their account against Meghan Montgomerie and Mercedes Perez.
Meanwhile in the men’s draw there was disappointment for UK domestic No.1 Nikhil Mohindra and partner Sandy Farquharson after they went down to Johannes Lindmeyer and Matthias Wunner 6-4, 6-4.
It was a loss that Mohindra believes came down to an inability to convert their opportunities and he groaned: “We faced tough opponents from Germany and it was a very tight match that came down to our failure to take our chances.
“We had plenty of break points but we failed to cash in and they took theirs and that was the difference. It came down to one break in each set and it is a bit frustrating that we lost out.
“But the whole experience was one that I will benefit from and I would just like to thank the LTA for giving myself and Sandy a wild card into the first London Rise Open.
“I will shortly be heading to Spain to join up at the Bela Padel Academy and I hope that when next year’s tournament comes round I can come back and make a real impression.”
British No.1 Christian Murphy described his 6-3, 6-1 victory with partner Javi Navarro over the Swedish duo of Olle Andersson and Jorrit Nottenboom as a “solid performance and a good start.”
Elsewhere, Louie Harris and Sam Jones had a tight first against qualifiers Alberto and Javier Gasca Romero winning the tie-break 7-6 but the second was a formality with the British pair cruising in 6-1.
Click here for the full LTA result service. Please note, matches are still ongoing as of 2000hrs BST.
