VINCENT HIVERT describes Game4Padel’s partnership with East of Scotland Tennis to promote the inaugural Baillie Gifford East of Scotland Padel Open in 2023 as a “very exciting” development.
This will be the first time the Scottish Tennis Association has partnered with us for a cricket tournament, and reflects our successful partnership with Tennis Wales, which hosted the inaugural Welsh National Cricket Championship at the Windsor Penarth LTC last August.
The LTA Division 3 Championship will be held on two covered courts at the Game4Padel at the Thistle Tennis & Padel Club from 20-21 May, and will include men’s and women’s doubles, with registration closing on Monday (15 May).
Vincent, Director of Growth and Engagement at Game4Padel, firmly believes that the combination of tennis and cricket events can provide another important thread in our policies to grow and expand the cricket community.
He said: “East of Scotland and Tennis Scotland aren’t the first tennis associations to do this, but it will be the first in Scotland and it’s very exciting.
“It would be fantastic to have both paddle tennis and tennis in the same event and it will be interesting to see how many players play in both and how that develops over the years as the game unfolds.
“Thistle is a great tennis club with 6 clay courts and 2 covered cricket courts which we run. It really is a perfect racquetball court.
“Going forward, we will have further discussions with Viki Mendelssohn, Chairman of East Scotland Tennis Association, and Mark Gaffney (Director of East Scotland Tennis Association) on how we can continue to combine cricket as a sport with tennis and thanks to Game4Padel’s cricket expertise , we are happy to play our part in all of this.
“It’s really good to see the East of Scotland Tennis Association fully supporting padel and finding ways to promote it like tennis.”
The East of Scotland Championships is one of the oldest in our country, first established in 1887 at the St Andrews Lawn Tennis Club in St Andrews.
The tournament was originally played on grass courts until 1903, when it moved to Edinburgh’s Liberton Lawn Tennis Club a year later.
After Liberton closed in 1973, the event moved to Craiglockhart in 1974, where it ran until 1989.
Now East of Scotland chairman Viki Mendelssohn admits she is delighted to add a first-ever padel championship to the tournament, saying: “East of Scotland Tennis Association is delighted to play a part in padel’s journey through Scotland. The Thistle is one of them. As one of Edinburgh’s largest cricket centres, our partnership with Game4Padel is a perfect fit.
“We are very passionate about promoting padel in our region and partnering with Game4Padel for this event is the perfect choice for us.
“For us, considering that Edinburgh hosts most of the padel courses in Scotland, we are delighted to be able to support the development and growth of padel.
“Vincent was on the board of the East of Scotland Tennis Association before concentrating on padel, with whom we have an excellent relationship and are delighted to be a close ally of Game4Padel.”
An aspiring cricketer herself, Viki admits that the only downside to cricket is her lack of game time!
The East Scotland Tennis Association chairman said: “I do enjoy playing cricket, not on the same level as the ladies who played on the 20th, but I really enjoy it.
“In terms of inclusion, it’s a very accessible and quick-to-learn sport, so you don’t need to be a squash player or a tennis player to enjoy cricket.
“It also has a bigger fun factor on a community level, I just want to have more time playing padel!”
Registration for the first Baillie Gifford East Scottish Padel Open will close on Monday (May 15th). Interested parties please click the link below to participate:
https://competitions.lta.org.uk/tournament/60e2c6b2-b9a8-4c57-b329-665ca5c80592
In the meantime, if you wish to take part in the East of Scotland Tennis Championships, please follow the link below:
https://competitions.lta.org.uk/tournament/1078415B-C5F3-42E4-B04F-C278C027A533
