HE is one of the most exciting talents in the UK and Ethan Bardo admits he has an important decision looming large.
Currently ranked No.15 in the GB senior rankings and having just waved a fond ‘adieu’ to his junior career by claiming the LTA Youth Tour title at Stratford, Ethan is also the Padel Manager at Prested Tennis Club in Essex.
Yet looking further down the line Bardo admits that some time in the next two years he will have to decide whether his padel career remains in coaching and managerial duties at his Colchester base.
Despite being only 18, Bardot has already been invited to train with John Leach’s GB men’s team and is planning to head to Spain early in 2023 to gain more exposure to top level competition while based in Murcia.
As he revealed this is likely to inform his big decision: “I have a crunch decision to make in 2023 on when it might be time to concentrate on competitive play but I’d say that is maybe two years away,” mused Bardo.
He continued: “Financially I don’t have the backing to make the jump now so I will have to earn the money to do that and the plan is to keep training in the UK and with it being an indoor facility (Prested has two indoor courts) I can train all year round which is great.
“I am lucky enough to have guys like Nikhil (Mohindra, GB international) coming down to train with me but if I have the money in place maybe 18 months away I will have a call to make.
“At the moment I manage my own two-court club in Essex at Prested Tennis Club. I started managing it about three months ago as I was just an employee at my previous club but now I have the full responsibility here for coaching and building the club up.
“It’s a big challenge and I work 8am to 10pm every day but we have a core percentage of 80% utilisation of the courts every day and we have had a few events and have a 30-pair tournament in mixed doubles coming up this month. So not bad for a little two-court club! “
Bardo already has a coaching badge as he revealed: “I got my first coaching qualification with the Hello Padel Mauri Andrini-inspired course and in the future I’m looking to add my LTA qualifications but right now I have to juggle all that with my coaching and managerial duties at the club but I love it.
“In this respect I owe a lot of people a lot of thanks but firstly to Prested Tennis Club for giving me the opportunity to work here. I‘d also like to thank Richard Hall-Smith who brought me into padel and Toby Bawden who was also instrumental in setting me on the path to padel.
“Drop Shot UK have also backed me and all these people have been invaluable in their support of me and my padel.”
A regular on the LTA Grade One and Two circuit, Bardo has also tested himself at FIP Rise level at the London Open and it was an experience that made him realise he will have to set sail for Spain to lift his game to the level required to make the professional grade.
The promising padel ace said: “I play pretty much every week at an LTA Grade One or Two event and I’ve played a few professional events and I’ve partnered and played against Theo Garton quite a few times who is at a similar age and level and a good friend.
“I played with Padel United UK and we made the LTA Division Two final but the day before the tournament two of the side took ill and we had to pull out which was very disappointing.
“I did try and qualify for the London Open with my partner Enrique Beneytez but we got a really tough draw against a Mexican pairing who were professionals and their level was extremely high compared to the LTA circuit.
“We lost the first set 6-0 and really that was just the shock of playing at that level but we did much better in the second set and were actually up 4-3 before they broke us and took the match 6-4.
“But these guys travel around the world playing padel and it was just great to play in front of so many people.
“Also what was really good was that John Leach, the GB Head Coach, was there giving us encouragement and advice from the side-lines which was a huge help especially in the second set. So it was just a really good learning experience and really gave us a gauge of where we are.
“After that experience following Christmas I am planning to fly out to Spain and play some tournaments and really test myself. I have trained hard all year and now it is time to test all of that work early in 2023 and so I’m looking to base myself in a little club in Murcia and train there.
“But I will also travel around to play a few tournaments in Barcelona and Marbella.”
Bardo brought his junior career to an end with a victory on the Junior Tour in Stratford and is clearly a man in a hurry: “I’m ranked No.15 in the men’s UK rankings and I won the Junior Youth Tour in Stratford recently in what will probably be my final junior tournament, so it was a great way to go out at the top of the junior game.
“I am lucky enough to have done a few sessions with the GB Squad and it is great to see how some of these guys have grown through padel, some of them started at 15 or 16 just like myself now, guys like Nikhil Mohindra have really worked their way up and are great role models.”
An earnest young fellow, Bardo took up padel at 15 after – you’ve guessed it – a holiday in Spain. It was then that he realised he had to pick between a promising cricket career, which had already brought him recognition from Essex, or follow his padel dream.
He recalled: “I took up padel when I was 15 in early 2019 and just recreationally with my friends. I had discovered padel on holiday in Spain and when I returned myself and a group of friends took it up and I was lucky that a three-court padel club in Malden in Essex opened up.
“So I used that as a base to play every day and two or three months in my mates drifted back to football, whereas I played cricket, but I was just enjoying padel so much more as it is more social and time wise it is easier.
“I would be standing in the field playing Cricket for Malden and Essex District boys team and looking over the fence at friends playing padel every Saturday and I knew I had a choice to make and I made it!”
We’re excited to see how Ethan’s career develops. Keep an eye on ‘Padel Stars of the Future’ for the next promising young talent.
