FIP Silver Australian Padel Open, Errani back on court 'I love padel, I hope to play it regularly and to see it at the Olympics soon'

The padel and tennis season has started in Australia. Sara Errani as well, the reigning Olympic champion in women's doubles and Billie Jean King Cup winner with the Italian national team, has already flown down under. After the United Cup and ahead of the Australian Open tennis tournament, Errani will also return to competition on the CUPRA FIP Tour. This will not be Errani's first time with a padel racket: she has already taken part in Australian stages of the FIP international circuit and also played at the Foro Italico during the most recent BNL Italy Major Premier Padel. In Melbourne, at the FIP Silver tournament to be held at Game4Padel Docklands, Errani will be the No. 4 seed together with Brazilian player Manuela Schuck, and will make her debut in the round of 16.

 

'After the wonderful experience in Rome, my desire to play has certainly not changed. I really enjoy stepping onto padel courts because I have a true passion for it, and whenever I can I also watch it on TV, in addition to playing when I get back home', Errani says from Australia. 'I would really love to play more padel tournaments this year. I immediately checked the 2026 calendar and unfortunately saw that the Rome Major will take place during the second week of Roland Garros, so sadly I won't be there. We'll see during the year if there will be other opportunities like here in Melbourne — I would be truly very happy'.

 

ERRANI AND PAOLINI Starting this year, Errani has joined Jasmine Paolini's team, with whom she still plays doubles. And who knows — maybe one day the pareja could be reunited in padel as well: 'I managed to get Jasmine to play a couple of times and it was a lot of fun. She gets quite angry on court because I often call 'mine' on balls down the middle — if it were up to me, I'd play everything myself because of how eager I am (laughs). But we had a lot of fun, and it would be great to step onto the padel court together as well'. Meanwhile, Sara's career continues in two directions: 'I didn't think I would keep playing tennis. Let's say last year went too well to stop (laughs). For now I'll continue, but I confirm that one day I'd like to play padel seriously as well, even though in life you never really know. We'll see...'.

 

THE IDOL BEA In the meantime, Sara is enjoying the growth of the sport: 'I think padel has grown tremendously in recent years, and that's very positive and a great achievement. I absolutely love watching it, and I truly hope that one day it will be included in the Olympic program, because that would be amazing. After Roland Garros, I saw that this year there's a tournament in Valencia, where I've lived for more than 20 years. I'll try to play there if possible — I'd really like that'. Errani says she needs to improve 'in attack and in play off the walls, but it's a sport I enjoy, so I always give it my all and we'll see in the future what my margins for improvement will be'. Being close to the world's top players can certainly help: 'Bea González is the player who impressed me the most. I trained with her last year in Rome during the Major and she really struck me — she's an incredible-level player. I'm also happy for Giulia Dal Pozzo: she's doing very well and I'm convinced she can grow a lot more because she has great talent'.

 

In Melbourne, fun will come first: 'I had crossed paths with Manuela Schuck in the past, and now I asked her if she wanted to play as my partner. I'm extremely happy to be able to play this tournament — let's see how far we can go'.

 

THE TOURNAMENT The other Italian, Simone Cremona, and Sten Richters — winners of last week's FIP Bronze in Melbourne — are the No. 1 seeds in the men's draw, followed by Spaniards Santiago Figuerola and Roberto Belmont. In the women's draw, the entry list is led by British players Aimee Gibson and Catherine Rose, while the No. 2 seeds will be Germany's Victoria Kurz and Spain's Eugenia Guimet.