British number one Christian Medina Murphy has hailed the significant turnout at this week’s inaugural London P1 tournament as “amazing news” for the burgeoning sport of padel in the UK.
The event, marking England’s first professional padel competition, is expected to draw over 20,000 spectators to the Olympia venue in Kensington by its conclusion on Sunday.
Medina Murphy, a wild card entry, delighted home fans on Tuesday with a historic victory alongside his partner Alberto Garcia Jimenez on the opening day of the main draw.
Although the pair ultimately exited the tournament in the last 32 on Wednesday night, the experience was a memorable one for the world number 173.
The London P1, organised by the Saudi Arabian entertainment, events and sports marketing company Sela, represents the first Premier Padel event hosted in the UK.
Kingston upon Thames-born Medina Murphy was one of 11 British male and female players to participate, relishing the opportunity to compete on home soil. He expressed excitement not only for the future of London P1 but also for his own progress with Garcia Jimenez, following their recent FIP Bronze success at an Alicante event last month.
Reflecting on their 6-2 6-1 loss to 10th seeds Juan Tello and Maxi Arce, which concluded in 63 minutes on Court Two, Medina Murphy stated: “A lot of things to take. First of all I saw a lot of people here in the first days watching, supporting me and supporting all the players and I think that is amazing news for UK Padel.”
He added: “I think in our level and looking to our level, I think we perform really good. We won the first round and that is really good performance. Yeah, really excited to be fighting against the best in the world and let’s see what is coming next. We perform well and have to train a little bit more to have more chances.”
Padel is a sport that combines the skills used in tennis and squash. It originated in Mexico back in 1968 and has become increasingly popular across the globe in recent years, including in the UK.
