British interest in London’s first ever professional padel tournament ended on Wednesday night, but fresh investment into the sport in this country should follow a successful maiden event at Olympia.
Home favourite Christian Medina Murphy was one of 11 British players involved this week in London P1, the first Premier Padel event to take place in England and one of 26 global tournaments on a Formula One-style calendar.
With participation of the tennis-squash hybrid beyond the one million mark in Great Britain, the next step in the development of padel was a first professional tournament to be hosted in London and Medina Murphy marked the historic moment with victory on Tuesday before he exited a day later.
Medina Murphy and Spanish partner Alberto Garcia Jimenez had delighted spectators inside Olympia’s 4,000-seater Centre Court with a 6-2 6-2 victory over Agustin Gutierrez and Santino Giuliani at the end of a fun-filled day one of the main draw.
It was followed by defeat in the last-32 on Wednesday night to 10th seeds Juan Tello and Maxi Arce, but another buoyant crowd witnessed Medina Murphy in action and London P1 organisers Sela are ready to help unearth more British talent alongside Lawn Tennis Association, which is the national governing body for padel.
Sela chief growth officer Luke Lloyd-Davies told Press Association: “It is a bit like with Tim Henman, Andy Murray, or Tom Daley, the Brits are very good at embracing their own.
“The more we can get people coming through, with help from the LTA, that would be brilliant. And it’s something we should look at, I think, at Sela at how we can support more British talent coming through.
“We’re here (in London), we’re an international business and we want to expand and invest in the sport so it makes sense to invest in the (British) talent.
“The LTA have great ambitions for how all of racket sport is going, but padel they are swimming with the current like we are so it’s going the right way and they have been great.
“They have been really super about liaising with us and helping us shape what this event is going to be.”
open image in galleryTickets for the final four days at Olympia sold out in rapid time, but there has still been a buzz about the refurbished Kensington venue despite smaller numbers in attendance for Tuesday and Wednesday.
World number one duo Agustin Tapia of Argentina and Spain’s Arturo Coello added stardust on day two of the London P1 main draw, one of 24 matches played across four courts over 12 hours.
However, action was not limited to only on court with a big practice area free for the public to witness the world’s best and a small facility for spectators to try the sport.
With face paint and tables for drawing to keep families entertained, along with a DJ provided by sponsor Red Bull and stalls to buy padel rackets from half a dozen sporting brands, every target market has attempted to be catered for at Olympia.
However, Sela chief Lloyd-Davies has started to plot improvements.
“There will be markers in the sand to come out of this, but what I am really focused on is how and where we can take it,” he said.