GAME4PADEL CEO Michael Gradon faces a daunting start to his weekend as he represents England against Estonia in the first round of the Six Nations Masters Padel Championship in Baden, Switzerland.
Michael also represented Great Britain at the World Championships in Las Vegas, where he was the backbone of England’s senior team, which will play against players from Estonia, Germany, Ireland, Scotland at the prestigious Padel Barregg club. Go head-to-head with your Swiss opponent. Baden.
Michael is looking forward to a weekend that combines the core values of padel camaraderie and competition, admitting that his trip to Switzerland will also have an element of a bus driver’s holiday.
He said: “I have to admit that every time I go to a new cricket ground I can’t help but see what good it can do for our business. That said, I just love to travel so taking part in these A big part of the event is the passion for travel and combining that with my love of playing padel, and banter is a big part of events like the Six Nations, which means the venue itself is just a bonus. I go though Been to Zurich but never to Baden but heard the surrounding area is beautiful and worth admiring.”
While England will face the dark horses of the tournament tomorrow, Estonia, Michael admits that it is the games against Ireland and Scotland that will really make him competitive, saying: “Scotland and Ireland are games we are looking forward to, without a doubt, for most of them. Humans – as you might expect, the competition between us is fierce and no one wants to lose to the other.
“Playing against Estonia will be a journey into the unknown because we have never played against them, although I believe they are very strong.
“Obviously Switzerland are the hosts and there’s no doubt they’re getting stronger. When we played them a while ago they were still finding their footing but the number of pitches there has grown astronomically and look where they go How far will be interesting.
“As for Germany, they started off behind the UK in paddle tennis, like the UK, but now there are more and more top tennis players coming into paddle tennis, and the standard is only going in one direction. So it will depend Who did they send that day.”
The big question, though, is whether England can compete against the continent’s best senior rowers: “As far as my own Six Nations race is concerned, we haven’t won yet, but we’re nowhere near winning! I Think the best thing to do is just focus on our first game and see where we go.
“The Swedish team was very strong before, and in Helsinki, the Finnish team was also very strong, but I believe that as we open up more grounds and encourage more good bat players to play cricket, the British team will only become stronger. powerful. .
“At the Senior World Championships last year, we had a guy who won the Tennis World Tour final, and once these guys make the transition, they love it. Abi Tordoff is a good friend of mine, he’s a Great example of how quickly a good tennis player can make that transition.”
Michael will next take part in the European Senior Championships in Alicante and in terms of preparations, the Game4Padel CEO has no doubts that this weekend’s action has greater significance.
He said: “The European games are really exciting and fun because I’ve mixed with all the English players over the years, but I love the game and it’s a great event to look forward to, a great one for the seniors. Very important development of padel in Europe.
“So this weekend’s Six Nations Championship is a huge event in itself and, no doubt, a preparation for Team Europe next month.”
Meanwhile, Game4Padel Ambassador Tia Norton faces another tough week in the Professional Padel League. Tia, who plays for Las Vegas Smash, will face former world No. 1 Marta Marrero, a star player at the PPL’s leading Miami Padel Club.
Looking forward to Saturday’s game, Tia said: “We play Miami first this weekend, they’ve won all three games, they’re going to be a tough team to crack, but we’re really looking forward to that.
“We’re playing San Diego on Sunday and I think they won two and lost one and it’s the same situation as us. So it’s all about playing.
“Last weekend we played against Toronto on Saturday and Sunday and then against Cancun, and I’m very happy to win both games. partner) played this one and we were unlucky to lose 10-8 in the championship tiebreak so we lost the draw which was really frustrating. But overall we won two game, lost a very close game, so it wasn’t too bad.
“There’s another round-robin weekend, and then the final weekend of the semi-finals and the final, so I’m half way through the journey now, which is kind of surreal. But it’s been a fantastic experience. We have a great team relationship, but we Working with other teams off the court as well, it’s a great environment to play padel.”
