By RJ Mitchell
TOM MURRAY has revealed that Great Britain has been awarded the European Group stages of the World Cup qualifiers.
Speaking to the Padel Paper the LTA Head of Padel has confirmed that both the men’s and ladies’ GB Teams will be battling it out against the cream of the continental crop at the We Are Padel venue which is run by padel tennis operator LeDap, which runs over 100 padel clubs world-wide.
The facility was a former Powerleague five-a-side football centre situated alongside Derby County FC’s Pride Park with four indoor football pitches now turned into a state-of the-art 11-court padel complex which started play in June.
Over dates still to be confirmed at the end of September, 16 European countries will be battling it out for potentially as few as two slots for the 2022 World Cup, which will once again be held at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex in Qatar from November 1 to November 6.
With the GB men’s team producing a creditable 11th placed finish last time around, despite being drawn with World Champions Spain in the opening group sections, Murray is hoping that home advantage can produce qualification for both the men’s and ladies sides next month this time around.
The LTA Head of Padel said: “We have just been awarded hosting rights for the European Group stages for the World Championships and that will be hosted in Derby at the end of September and that is hugely exciting.
“It gives our players a fantastic platform to do well and of course it is one of the main reasons for hosting these events. The European Group is incredibly strong and we will need all the help we can get to progress to Qatar.
“It is both men’s and women’s and it is the largest venue in the country. We have wanted to host these type of events in the past but haven’t had the infrastructure but now we do and it is the first part of our development plan to increase the amount of courts to allow that to happen.
“Obviously you are dependent on the private sector to create these larger venues and hubs that we have seen in other countries and these are vital to allow the sport to grow. So it is a quick turn around with just two months so that is very exciting.”
Looking back over a weekend of colossal competition at the FIP Rise London Open Murray was delighted at the spread of nations which took part: “We planned accordingly but no one was to expect such an overwhelming amount of entries and we had an oversubscribed draw with six entries not making it in.
“There were a lot of Spaniards in the draw but we were surprised to see players from Argentina, Japan, Qatar, and a host of other European countries, so considering it was our first FIP Rise event it really was a truly international showing and we are delighted with that.
“In terms of our next (FIP Rise) tournament we will be hosting four next year and the idea was to showcase this type of event at the NTC so that venues could enjoy it and see what it entailed and then request to host.
“In these terms the more venues we have coming forward for these events then that will support the domestic framework for competition pathway for our performance players and that will allow us to encourage them back to the UK more regularly.
“Otherwise they will be forced to spend a whole year training and competing abroad so for us to take these next steps we need these events in the UK so we can showcase the higher level and hopefully that will encourage grass roots and then the whole player pathway comes together. “
With two Brits making it through to the semi-finals in Hansie Ruddick and Tia Norton before the latter and partner Carla Fito Fernandez eventually triumphed in the title denouement, Murray admitted that Sunday had proven to be a ladies day at the NTC that could prove hugely positive to growing the sport with the female half of the population.
He said: “I am so proud of both Tia and Hansie and we could almost have seen an all-British final but unfortunately Hansie didn’t make it through.
“For Tia to make the final with her partner Carla and then come through with the win it gives the LTA a lot to talk about and I am just really happy to have a British winner in our first professional tournament. It is just great for padel’s profile over here.
“It is key for us and they say around Europe that the sport is very gender neutral so for us to start this way in the UK with Tia and so many opportunities in the women’s game it is just fantastic to happen in the first event.”
There was also an interesting sub-plot with the entry of former GB No.1 Ladies tennis player Laura Robson into the main draw and Murray admits that despite her first-round loss Robson’s appearance was a positive: “It enables the sport to generate greater awareness early on and I think that will be key and for it to happen in the first event is overwhelming really.
“We have seen it happen in other countries like Sweden with ex-tennis players and even the occasional footballer. But for us to have that happen with Laura Robson’s participation in the women’s game is very exciting for us.”
The strongest performance from a British male was the semi-final placing of Christian Murphy and Murray was keen to pay tribute to the leading British man’s efforts: “It is nice to see Christian competing really well consistently with his partner Javi (Navarro). It is a doubles sport and the partnership is very important and it looks like Christian has really gelled with Javi.
“I’m not sure what happened in their semis and it could be that they were a bit fatigued after two draining previous rounds that were both three-set matches or perhaps they were just a bit tight with playing the semis of the London Rise and all that meant to Christian as a Brit.
“But I am really proud of Christian and he takes the sport and his training so seriously and he is very professional indeed in how he approaches everything including his scheduling and that is very positive.
“We also had Richard Brooks back in the fray, who was our previous British No.1 and hasn’t been playing in the last few years, unfortunately he got a really tough draw and lost to the finalists in the first round.”
“But it is just hugely positive for padel in Britain to have both Tia and Christian at the top of our game, they are a credit to padel.”
