There was a multi-national flavour to the winners’ podium at Rocks Lane on Sunday for the biggest padel tournament ever staged in the UK.
Players flew in from Spain, Netherlands, Sweden, Japan, Argentina, Portugal, Poland, Germany, Qatar and Italy to join the cream of British padel for the FIP RISE competition in Chiswick, west London.
The men’s trophy was won by top seeds Ignacio Piotto Albornoz of Argentina and Spain’s Pedro Vera, who triumphed 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 over Spanish second seeds Fran Ramirez Navas and Emilio Sanchez Chamero.
Second-seeded pair Marcella Koek and Stephanie Weterings of the Netherlands claimed victory in the women’s final, beating the Spanish top seeds Laura Gomez Pando and Ana Varo Ramos 7-5, 6-3.
As for the Brits, Sam Jones reached the men’s quarter-finals alongside Iago Gonzalez Niño before losing 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 to the eventual runners-up Navas and Chamero. In the previous round, the Spanish pair also knocked out GB’s Christian Medina Murphy, who partnered Alberto Garcia Jimenez, 6-2, 6-1.
Alfonso Patacho and Chris Salisbury, Francis Langan and Nikhil Mohindra, Richard Brooks (who partnered Spain’s Mario Cerezo Casado) and Louie Harris (alongside Portugal’s Henrique Barbosa) all lost in the first round.
Pairing up with Portugal’s Margarida Fernandes, GB No.1 Tia Norton went into the women’s main draw seeded third, but their run was ended in the quarter-finals by sixth seeds Lorena Cossio Capilla and Francesca Ligotti to the tune of 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.
The other five British women’s pairings all lost in the first round.
Tournament organiser and Rocks Lane founder Chris Warren said: “It’s all done and star dusted! The biggest international padel tournament ever held in the UK.
“There were some amazing matches with some of the world’s best players competing and four courts of international padel competition streamed simultaneously for the first time!”
