Catherine Rose rises to British No.1 after clinching fifth FIP title
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Catherine Rose has become the new British No.1 for the first time in her career, marking a major milestone in the 27-year-old’s rise through the game.
Rose has climbed 10 places to world No.100 after claiming the title at the FIP Silver Damac Dubai over the weekend. Rose overtakes Aimee Gibson, who has been out with an injury since the start of the year.
Speaking of achieving the British No.1 title for the first time in her career, Rose said, “Becoming British No.1 is a great achievement and I’m very proud of myself. I’ve been putting in a lot of work on court and off court and really feeling my improvements now so always nice for that to be reflected in my results and ranking.
"I’m grateful Aimee (Gibson) and I have each other as not only is she an amazing friend, but we continually push each other to improve. She’s an outstanding player and I can’t wait for her to be back on court.
"I hope our journeys can encourage the next generation of girls to pick up a racket, enjoy the sport and believe in what’s possible.
"I’m very grateful to my sponsors, coaches, family, friends and the LTA for their constant support throughout my career and helping me reach this point.”
Among Rose’s career highlights are three FIP Silver titles, two FIP Bronze titles, breaking into the world’s top 100, as well as being selected to represent Great Britain on the international stage. She was also named Female Padel Player of the Year at the 2026 LTA Awards, presented by Lexus.
Rose, who hails from London, was first introduced to padel at the National Tennis Centre at the end of 2021 after being introduced to the sport by a friend. Although she only played once initially, she immediately loved it. At the time, she viewed padel purely as a hobby and didn’t return to the court for a couple of months.
She spent a lot of time playing tennis as a junior and was able to apply the skills she had learnt from tennis to a new sport, which was very satisfying. She found it really addictive and saw improvements quite quickly, which made it motivating to play more and more.
Sport has always played a major role in Rose’s life. Alongside competing in tennis as a junior, she also played rugby through university, and she relished once again having a sport to train for and compete in at a high level. In July 2024, Rose made the decision to leave her job as a teacher to pursue padel full time.
