Richard Brooks believes he has laid down a marker for the season after claiming last weekend’s LTA Grade One British Tour title at We Are Padel Derby alongside Spanish partner Mario Cerezo.
Fourth seeds Brooks and Cerezo beat GB internationals Louie Harris and Sam Jones in a final which hinged on the climax to the first set. Harris and Jones had a set point only to lose the tie break 9-7, before the Anglo-Spanish pairing ran away with the second set 6-2.
Yet despite now being in his 42nd year, the venerable Brooks was delighted to prove he can still cut the competitive mustard against a strong 32-pairing draw in Derby.
He told The Padel Paper: “I believe I have shown this weekend that I can still play. It is good for the other young Brits to have me as a reference. I am proud to take the victory and winning in Derby has given me a great platform going forward for the rest of the season.
“Although I was really pleased to take the victory, I was every bit as happy seeing how many players competed and how quickly the quality has continued to improve from previous years. I really was quite surprised with this aspect and the progress made.
“I think it is good I play the LTA Grade One tournaments in the UK as it is important for the standard and there were a few really strong pairs competing at Derby which is good for UK padel.
“In the final Louie and Sam played amazing. They are based in Madrid and they are very sharp and very smart on court. Mario and I had to play at our best level to take the win.
“In the semi-final we beat the top seeds Jorge Del Campo and Rafael Otaolaurruchi and again the standard was really good. You can’t just turn up expecting to win now, you must take each match at a time.”
Brooks has been using his Alicante training base at the Bela Padel Center to whip himself into peak condition and work with some exciting young GB talent.
He revealed: “I’ve been training hard for the last two to three weeks at the Bela Padel Center, working other British guys like Nikhil Mohindra and another young guy called Jake Fox who has a big future ahead.
“When the Brits train with me in Alicante they can see how I go about it. It is not just about going on court and hitting a ball it is about physical training as well as technical padel aspects.”
When it came to his plans and targets for the rest of the season Brooks revealed: “I am looking at my schedule over the next week and will decide then what my priorities are. I need to see what tournaments I can play and combine the LTA tournaments and FIP Tournaments.
“Hopefully winning at Derby this weekend has given me the best platform to building a successful season ahead.”
In the women’s event GB No.1 Tia Norton and partner Aimee Gibson beat Liza Groenveld and Janine Hemmes 6-3, 6-4.
In the mixed doubles competition, Harry Murphy and Yasmine Clarke triumphed over top seeds Ethan Bardo and Maria-Christina Balatsouka 6-3, 6-3.
