GB ladies’ seniors captain Libby Fletcher admits her side’s Plaza Padel Nations Cup opener against Sweden on Friday “couldn’t be any tougher.”
Team GB will start their campaign in the inaugural tournament for ladies’ age groups from over-40 to over-55 at 1pm CET time on Friday, with Fletcher announcing the team at the final practice session in the morning.
After the Sweden clash, the British golden girls will go again at Plaza Padel Amsterdam against an All Stars side which draws on players from across the five competing nations who have not made the pick for that particular round of matches.
On Saturday, GB will meet old foes Germany and then face the Netherlands before concluding their campaign against Belgium on Sunday.
With rumours swirling that the game’s longest-reigning world No.1 Carolina Navarro Bjork could be unveiled in the Swedish team, Fletcher is bracing herself for a battle royale.
The GB skipper said: “I am not sure if Carolina [Navarro] will play but I do think Sweden will be our strongest opponents. As an opening tie, it really couldn’t be any tougher.
“Having seen them in the World Championships they will be of a very high standard. But we are travelling with our strongest possible team, having prepared really well and we have a very good depth to our squad.”
She continued: “The whole intention of this weekend is to build on the training we have already had and progress towards the official FIP events still to come this year. That said, we want to get off to the best possible start and post the win.
“If we can do that against a very strong Sweden side it would set the whole weekend up and put us on the front foot.”
While the line-up of the All Stars ensemble may be ad-hoc, Fletcher admits that with former World No.16 tennis player Sabine Applemans in the mix, it will not be lacking in quality: “There will be eight players playing in each team and anyone who isn’t playing in our matches will get an opportunity to play for the All Stars.
“For me the All Stars team will be just as competitive as any of the other individual nations. You are going to be playing alongside potentially former top-50 ranked tennis players and absolute top padel players.
“Sweden, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands have had padel in their infrastructure for quite some time, so they are four very experienced padel nations. The fact they will be feeding in players to the All Stars will add an extra dimension competitively but also in terms of the social aspect.”
Turning her attention to Saturday’s encounter with Germany, Fletcher reflected: “At the World Championships they were hugely competitive and highly motivated and I’m sure it will be the same this weekend.”
GB will then face a Netherlands side whose captain Mirjam Van Roer is the tournament’s co-organiser alongside GB player-manager Sally Fisher. Fletcher said: “We know how determined The Netherlands are to do well on their home courts. They will have a few home fans along and the Dutch are very passionate about their sport so I am sure they will be vocal.”
The curtain will fall for GB with a finale against Belgium on Sunday morning and again the Brits will be facing world-class tennis opposition with former WTA Tour pro Sabine Applemans and Elke Clijsters (Kim’s sister) confirmed in their line-up.
There is no doubting Fletcher’s excitement and anticipation for the weekend’s action. She said: “Any time you pull on the GB shirt it is exciting and a privilege and I am fortunate to have already experienced that in tennis and now also with padel.
“Some of our squad haven’t represented GB padel before, but we have ex-GB tennis players and a former GB handball player, so they will all have their own personal experiences.
“It is really exciting to get the opportunity to play against such strong European teams and I can’t wait to to see how our players will compare to the best in Europe.”
