Tia Norton pronounced her victory at last weekend’s HOP PRO Harrogate as a “great platform” to resume her bid to break the world’s top 100 rankings.
The British No.1 partnered Aimee Gibson to a 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory over Lila Simpson and Catherine Rose in the year’s opening LTA Grade One tournament at Surge Padel, which was also the first event of the governing body’s British Tour.
The victory, which backed up the new pairing’s success at Rocks Lane the previous week, came in what was the biggest women’s draw for a professional padel tournament in Britain. The 18 pairs surpassed last year’s London FIP Rise event.
A delighted Norton told The Padel Paper: “The final was a very tight match and to come away with a win at any tournament is really positive and not something I take for granted.
“The level and competitiveness in the women’s game is definitely going up in every tournament I have played. There were nothing but positive things from Harrogate. It was the first Grade One of the year and it really showed the potential for women’s padel in the UK.”
The Norton-Gibson pairing now has a two from two success rate. Laura Deigman, Gibson’s partner last year, was unavailable for the first couple of tournaments of 2023 so Norton stepped in.
Norton said: “We have really enjoyed playing together and we will see how it goes in the future but for now it’s just in the short term. That said, it may be something we will look to do again in the future.”
For Norton and Gibson there was the added bonus of a semi-final triumph over top seeds and fellow GB internationals Abi Tordoff and Lisa Philips. Norton reflected: “We won 6-1, 6-3 in the semis against Abi and Lisa and we felt very comfortable in the match. We were solid and consistent and when we had the opportunity we took it.
“We wanted to play our game and our shots but also be comfortable and enjoy it and I think that was what allowed us to get the win there.
“We were really pleased with the result and how we played as we didn’t give them too many opportunities to get into the match and stayed on top. We really focussed on maintaining the momentum and didn’t let up. “
Projecting forward to her next outing Tia said: “Hopefully my next tournament will be in Seville in March but for now it’s a training block at Harbour Club Chelsea.
“With Rocks Lane and then Harrogate it has been non-stop so I have a couple of days off before getting back to work at Chelsea.
“Now I must focus internationally as that is where my main drive is but this has been a great platform for hopefully breaking into the top 100. It has been a very positive to start the year competitively.”
