By RJ Mitchell
JAVI SERRATS reckons the HOP Tour is coming to the boil nicely after a sizzling tournament at Rawdon confirmed the seventh pairing set to take a bow at the tour’s October Masters Finals in London.
In sweltering 30-degree heat Harrogate hot-shots Alberto Crespo and Declan Christie became the seventh pairing to confirm their Masters Finals appearance after dispatching Middlesborough’s Andrew Doddy and Matthew Hiser 6-1, 6-3.
Serrats, himself a former LTA No.1 ranked padel player, has no doubt that Crespo and Christie’s skill at killing off the opposition quickly, which saw them progress to the final without dropping a set, was pivotal to their ability to rain on Doddy and Hiser’s parade.
All of which means that with just two events left prior to the finals event there are seven different pairings all now guaranteed to hit old London town for the ultimate HOP Tour hit-out.
HOP Tour supremo Serrats said: “This was the seventh of the HOP Tour series and all the tournaments have been very successful with a high level of padel and Rawdon was certainly no different.
“So, every event after seven HOP tournaments and with one to go, has had a different pairing winning each event this far and that means we will have a real variety of partnerships for the masters finals and that is exactly what we were dreaming for London.
“It is a really exciting prospect and with just two events to go the HOP Tour is going exactly how we hoped it would with new players performing very well at each tournament and our numbers growing all the time.
“Congratulations to Alberto and Declan for winning Rawdon at the weekend and guaranteeing their finals place!”
While Doddy and Hiser had to battle for almost an hour and a half in their semi to come through against Daniel O’Riordan and Nil Rovirosa, the champions defeated Peter Bowles and Christopher Stanford for the loss of just three games.
That economy of effort Serrats believes was a big factor in the final and he said: “Alberto Crespo and Declan Christie produced a very high standard of padel throughout the competition.
“The quality of the padel was consistently higher from them while the others all had very tight matches at one stage or another and I think that came into play as the tournament progressed.
“Crespo and Christie were very solid for the full competition and they were decisive in each match which was even more impressive when you consider this was the first time they competed together.
“They adapted to each other’s styles very well and with the weather over 30-degrees the fact they were able to finish their games efficiently and quickly was a big bonus for them after each round.
“Also the ball was really flying because of the high temperature and both Alberto and Declan are very powerful players and they have strong smashes and that made them very tough to handle for the other guys.
“So, their power game was just too strong. For most of the time they took control of the net and controlled their opportunities and if they were not at the net they used a low lob to get there and they were also very good at playing a ‘chiquita’ to the feet of their opponents and turning a rally in their favour by clever use of it.
“In fact this was one of the main features of their matches.”
When it came to the ‘Live at Leeds’ action Serrats was delighted with the atmosphere at the HOP Tour stage seven event: “It was really quite busy in the morning and quite crowded as the club was busy with another social event and that made for a very nice atmosphere.
“The padel players all mixed well with club members and there was a lot of interest from the latter in the event but in the afternoon it was just the padel fanatics and again we had a different crowd for the final.
“So, again well done to Alberto and Declan but also to Andrew and Matthew and the other semi-finalists Peter and Christopher and Daniel and Nil, every one of them did themselves proud and we hope to see them back for the other tournaments as we still have places to fill at the London finals event!”
When it came to the HOP Women’s event Middlesborough’s Sally Fletcher and Libby Fisher prevailed after a high-quality final against Scottish duo Lindsay McCall and Meghan Montgomerie 6-1, 6-2.
In similar fashion to the men’s event the ladies champions progressed without dropping a set en route to the final and Serrats reckons the superior top level experience of the GB Masters internationalists was pivotal in this regard.
The HOP Tour co-director said: “Libby Fletcher and Sally Fisher are both members of the GB seniors team and they performed at a very high level for the whole tournament where they made the most of their experience and stayed calm when it mattered most.
“The ball control that Libby and Sally produced was really impressive, and again they used their experience very well and took a good base on every single shot and made the right decisions and Meghan and Lindsay just couldn’t find the way to take control away from them.
“But we had two very good semi-finals with Libby and Sally defeating Natalie Gill and Nicky Horn 7-6, 6-4 and Lindsay and Meghan Helen Cowlrick and Gibby Small 6-2, 6-3.
“Particularly the first semi-final was a very tight match and the opening set was so close and was probably decisive in Libby and Sally’s favour.”
Serrats added: “Lindsay and Meghan are both players from West of Scotland in Ayrshire and this was there second appearance at one of our events while Lindsay was the winner at Surge Padel and in this tournament she performed very well.
“We have now had four events on the HOP Women Tour and we are very pleased with how it is progressing and the women’s game and participation is something we want to do all we can to continue growing.”
