Abigail Tordoff, Alfonso Patacho and Chris Salisbury win LTA Grade 1 event in Exeter
• 2 minutes read
This weekend brought plenty of British success at the LTA Grade 1 R3 Bullpadel Cup in Exeter, Devon with top seeds Abigail Tordoff and her Spanish partner Ainhoa Rico claiming their second Grade 1 title of 2026 and all-British duo Alfonso Patacho and Chris Salisbury winning the men’s title.
Top seeds Tordoff and Rico, who were crowned champions at the LTA Grade 1 Stratford event earlier this month, dropped just two games en route to the final. In the championship match, they faced an all-British pairing of Alice Keddie and Victoria Nicholas.
The women’s final proved to be a high-quality contest, lasting two and a half hours, with the top seeds overcoming the third seeds to win the title 7-5, 6-7, 6-2.
Reflecting on their second LTA Grade 1 title of 2026, Tordoff said, “We are really happy to have won this event and the second R3 Bullpadel Cup Grade 1 in a row. We had a really tough match in the final but we are super pleased to come out with the victory in the end. It’s been such an enjoyable weekend with a brilliantly organised event and a lovely venue.”
On the men’s side, fourth seeds and LTA Padel National Championships runners-up Alfonso Patacho and Chris Salisbury had an impressive tournament to claim their first title of 2026. The British pair produced a major upset in the semi-finals, overcoming second seeds Rodriguez Quesada and Manuel Valcarcel Sanchez.
They carried that momentum into the final, where they claimed a 64 63 victory over the third seeded British-Spanish pair of Rio Hanif and Josep Aymerich Bellmunt.
Speaking after the final, Patacho and Salisbury reflected on the tournament saying, “We’re delighted to have won the event. The level throughout the tournament was really high, so we had to stay sharp in every match but we're really pleased with how we handled it. The atmosphere at the venue was great, it was a really enjoyable tournament.”
The competition at City Padel Exeter was the second of seven LTA Grade 1 events in 2026 to take place across England, Scotland, and the Channel Islands as part of the British Tour, which encompasses the top padel competitions in Great Britain.
Grade 1 events see the very best British players and international competitors competing in standout events, across full weekends, for prize money. In 2026, British players, including juniors, open, and seniors, will have 35 weeks of international and domestic playing opportunities to earn valuable prize money and ranking points.
R3 Tournament Director, Sam Kemp reflected on the event saying, “It's been a pleasure to be able to showcase this level of padel in Devon for the first time. The standard of play across the tournament has been outstanding, and we were spoilt with some absolutely amazing matches on the final day.
"I'd like to thank the players for all of their efforts, our staff and partners for their hard work and City Padel for being amazing hosts, the venue and crowd atmosphere was excellent all weekend, the perfect venue for a high-level tournament.”
Elsewhere on the FIP Tour, there was further British success, with three players reaching finals across different events. Alex Loughlan and Louie Harris had a positive week at the FIP Bronze Litas Kaunas, advancing to the final before narrowly missing out in a closely contested 7-6, 7-5 defeat. Their strong performance in Lithuania sees both players climb to new career-high rankings of 292.
Catherine Rose also continued her excellent form, partnering Spain’s Carmen Azcoitia Mazo to reach the final of the FIP Bronze Hong Kong. However, they were defeated by the second-seeded Spanish duo, Cristina Carrascosa Cazorla and Patricia Araus Lopez 6-3, 6-1.
