GB international Louie Harris says Sam MacNeil is “making rapid progress” after he partnered the Scot in their victory at last weekend’s LTA Grade Two event at Stratford Padel Club.
Harris and 31-year-old MacNeil were 6-4, 6-3 victors over Nikhil Mohindra and Theo Garton in Sunday’s men’s showpiece in east London.
Prior to the pair’s semi-final victory over Frankie Langan and Nicholas Hatchett on a tiebreak game, Louie and Sam dropped just a single game in their first round, second round and quarter-final matches.
The Stratford title continues Sam’s fine record this year on British shores, with victory in July’s LTA Grade One at Rocks Lane Chiswick and April’s Grade Two at the National Tennis Centre alongside Rafael Vega, and his triumph alongside Frankie at the Grade One held at Guernsey Padel Club in May.
“The first time I saw him play was a year ago when I played against him,” Welshman Louie told The Padel Paper. “He seemed pretty tricky but I could tell he was new to the sport at that point.”
Dunfermline-born Sam is a graduate of California State University, Fresno, where he represented the tennis team. He has since switched focus to padel and Louie says his prospects are positive.
“He has been progressing pretty quickly,” he said. “He is coming from tennis so he’s got very good volleys, great reactions and great hands.
“He likes to play quite fast and close to the net which is why I think it works well. He’s similar to myself – quite an aggressive player and doesn’t like to spend much time at the back.
“That’s why I thought it would work well as a partnership at Stratford and it did. I’m sure he’s going to keep progressing quickly and I’m also sure we’ll play another tournament together in the future.”
