Top padel players compete in Jersey’s international tournament

Tom and Rob won the men’s final 6-4, 7-5 at the FIP Silver Rathbones Island Padel tournament in St Clement, closing a four-day event that put Jersey on the federation circuit. The tournament ran from July 30 to August 2 at Island Padel and carried an €18,000 prize pool.

The women’s final completed the international picture, with Theresa Navarro Lopez Barajas and Virginia Riera on one side and Monica Gomez Rivas and Lucia Peralta Exposito on the other. That lineup gave Jersey courts a mix of Spanish and Argentine talent, and it sat alongside a men’s field that included players such as Berislav Bobus, Craig De Silva, Jon Southern and Reuben Legge in the qualifying and draw stages.

The scale mattered as much as the scores. Island Padel’s St Clement venue has three indoor courts and two outdoor floodlit courts, enough infrastructure to handle a federation event without pretending to be a giant arena. In a sport built around big-city hubs and established strongholds, Jersey proved it can stage a serious stop and still keep the atmosphere tight enough for spectators to see every transition, lob and overhead up close.

This was not Jersey’s first international padel turn either. The LTA marked the FIP Bronze Island Padel Jersey 2025 event last August, which showed the island had already been used for FIP competition before this year’s Silver step up. That matters for player development on the island because repeated hosting creates more than a weekend spectacle: local players get repeated exposure to the tempo, spacing and shot selection of higher-level padel, not just a one-off visit from foreign talent.

It also gives Jersey a tourism product with a clear edge. A four-day tournament, an international field and a venue in St Clement make the island a workable stop for players and followers who want a professional event without the sprawl of a mainland major city. For padel’s growth strategy, Jersey is the useful kind of outpost, a smaller market that can still deliver top-level competition and keep finding room on the calendar.