GB Ladies team head coach Alvaro Guerrero has highlighted the importance of a healthy home support at We Are Padel Derby as crucial to his side’s hopes of negotiating the perilous qualification process for the XVI World Padel Championships.
Speaking exclusively to The Padel Paper on the eve of what is the acid test for his eight-player team, which is headed by padel poster girl and GB No.1 Tia Norton, the value set on a tight-knit team and a hearty backing from GB fans by Guerrero has become clear.
With the Spanish coach sensing a difference in the mental mindset of his charges in recent coaching and training sessions which has seen the level of intensity and focus rise, Alvaro as he is known in British padel, is confident his stars will bring their A-game to the courts at the UK’s flagship padel venue.
While the GB Ladies head coach has also supplied an in-depth player by player assessment of his team while also underlining his delight at having Max Lutostanski added recently as his No.2.
“I am really happy with the team and that is very important for any coach ahead of a big tournament. The progress in the last two months or so has been very good and really everyone in the team has improved a lot and the intensity in our work and focus has lifted,” said Alvaro.
He continued: “Most of the players are tennis background but now we have them approaching things with more of a padel mindset which is key. So, they are approaching the game as a different sport to tennis and that is very important.
“But I really hope that playing at home we will have a good support as that would be very encouraging for the team. We want to feel like we are playing at home.
“Really I am not even thinking about qualifying. I just want to see us produce our best possible performances on the court and let that take us where we want to go.”
There is also no doubting just how much importance Guerrero attaches to the addition of Lutostanski as his assistant after the 32-year-old enjoyed an outstanding start to his new position in helping coach British No.1 Tia Norton and her partner Carla Fito Fernandez to victory at the recent London Padel Open.
The GB Ladies Head Coach said: “Max has done very well since he has come in and of course he won the National Club Team Champs with Chelsea (Harbour Club) and he coached at the FIP Rise London where he did a great job.
“I am very happy to have him on the team as he has a very nice manner and has already become very popular with the team, he is also a really nice guy.
“He understands how a team works and I love that about Max.”
Guerrero admits that the draw, which has seen his side placed in Group C with Austria and Lithuania and will surely see Team GB as favourites to progress to a shootout with the winners of Group C which comprises of Sweden, Estonia, and Norway, is a tough one.
Nonetheless he is confident that the hard yards of preparation have been put in: “We decided on our potential pairings after our training sessions but as yet we don’t know who we will play against and how the draw comes out will have a major impact on that.
“We have eight players who will give us many options no matter who we draw and that is very important.”
All of which takes us to the selection and Alvaro was happy to share his thoughts on his team as he highlighted the strengths they will bring to the court in the bid to make the World Championships.
The GB Head Coach said: “We all know Tia (Norton) and of course that she is the best player on the team. She is a very good reference for all of the others in terms of aiming to get to her level and she is improving all the time.
“With Abi Tordoff she is playing very well and the great thing with Abi is she is very good at listening, absorbing, and learning and she has made a very good transition to padel from tennis.
“Lisa Phillips is a really good competitor and with Abi she is having great success around the country in various tournaments and she is playing with a lot of confidence.
“Catherine Rose is another ex-tennis player who has very good skills and is a great mover and very fast. Catherine’s understanding of padel improves with every day and she is just getting better and better.
“Claire Smith is based in Middlesbrough and has been competing on the tour for a few years and she normally plays with Libby (Fletcher) who is also on the team. Claire is a very clever player and also very strong.
“As for Libby Fletcher, she has played padel for years, has great experience and has very good skills with great hands and amazing volleys, she is also a very shrewd player. Libby used to play for the seniors but I feel she totally deserves to play on the team.
“Hansie Ruddick lives in Madrid and she is competing in Spain regularly and she made the semi-finals of the London FIP Rise while she has also played regularly in the World Padel Tour tournaments. Hansie has an excellent backhand and that makes her very important to the team.
“Olivia Smith lives in Sweden and she is training and playing more and more at a very good level. She is very solid on the volley and Olivia is an attacking player who has come from a tennis background. She also has a very good attitude and when she is on the court she works harder and harder to improve each day.”
While Team GB are seeded No.2 behind the top ranked Danes, Guerrero reckons the main source of danger will come from Portugal and Sweden whom he is hoping to avoid in the group stage draw: “For me Portugal and Sweden are the strongest teams. They have a few professional players and Sweden have just signed up Carolina Navarro who is ranked 25th with the World Padel Tour. She played for the Spanish team previously for 20 years and she is a top player.
“In Sweden they have three or four very good players who are experienced World Padel Tour players and they are just very solid.”
Of one thing there is no doubt; as the sport grows and evolves, and the mainstream media start to take notice, this is the biggest test for the team yet.
