Naas teenager breaks into World’s Top 600 as Ireland’s No. 1 Padel Player

Anna Zuka, the 19-year-old from Naas Lawn Tennis Club, has broken into the top 600 of the FIP world padel rankings at no. 593 (June 5, 2026). This sharp rise has cemented her place as Ireland’s No. 1 ranked female player and the highest ranked international padel player the country has produced, male or female. The milestone is the clearest marker yet of a rise that has taken the Kildare woman from a club junior tennis player to the leading edge of Irish padel in barely two seasons.

Breaking into the world’s top 600 is a significant step in a sport growing as fast as padel, now with 1,500 women ranked globally. Anna, an Irish player, ranked 1,100 a few months ago, competing without an established domestic professional pathway, reaching this level reflects both the standard of her game and the structured, full-time approach she has taken to her development.

Her rise in the game has been quick and in no doubt down to the foundations laid down growing up as junior tennis player in Naas Lawn Tennis Club and the multi-sport background she attained through sport in school in St Mary’s College Naas. In 2025 she climbed from No. 6 to No. 2 in the Irish women’s rankings as the youngest player in the senior rankings, earned three senior Ireland caps, and played at the No. 1 pair at the European Championships, where she won two matches including a victory over Romania’s No. 1 pair. She also became the first Irish teenager to earn FIP international ranking points and finished the season second on the Irish Padel Tour. In 2026 she went further again, winning three out of her first four Irish Padel Tour events without dropping a set, and representing Ireland at the Four Nations, where she won both her matches against Wales and Scotland and pushed England’s No. 1 pair close. Anna’s training partner Amy Flynn, also from Naas LTC, is the next highest ranked Irish International player at 914 in the rankings.

“Breaking into the world’s top 600 means a lot, but for me it is a checkpoint, not a finish line,” said Anna Zuka. “I want to be the first Irish player to reach the top 100, and everything is built around that. Representing Ireland and my club in Naas LTC while I chase it is something I’m really proud of.”

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Behind the results is a deliberately professional set-up. Zuka trains year-round to a structured strength and conditioning plan, with her preparation informed by laboratory testing and regular performance profiling. Her coach, Dr Kevin O’Brien (PhD), sport scientist, former Head of Strength and Conditioning with Tennis Ireland and current Padel Coach at Naas LTC, oversees her on-court work, physical development and player management. Having the benefit of the sport science expertise in her corner, this partnership has helped her manage the increased training load, reduce the overall injury risk, develop efficient and economical technique with her long-term development in mind.

“Anna combines a genuinely professional approach with the talent and hard-work ethic to back it up,” said O’Brien. “We build her game based on a measured, evidence-led preparation, and the results on the national and international circuit show it is working. She is leading the way for padel in Ireland, and the best of her game is still in front of her.”

The top 600 milestone is a stepping stone towards a greater goal. Anna aspires to break the top 500 in this calendar year, top 400 in 2027 and top 300 in 2028. She will compete in 2 more FIP international events in July in Ireland (Belfast, and Dublin, compete in high level padel competitions in the UK, will spend a minimum of 4 weeks training at a high-performance padel academy abroad, continue to compete on the Irish Padel Tour and to play Ireland when selected. The long-term target is clear: to become the first Irish padel player to reach the world’s top 100.

Anna's attention now turns closer to home, with two FIP Silver events on Irish soil this summer. She will compete at the FIP Silver R3 Bull Padel Cup in Padel54, Moira, from 1-5 July, before heading to Dublin for the FIP Silver Hiscox Padel Irish Open from 13-19 July. Two Silver events in one summer represents a considerable points and ranking opportunity and is a great chance for people to see padel live at an extremely high level.

As Anna’s ambitions continue to grow on both the national and international stage, she is actively seeking partnerships with businesses and organisations that share her commitment to excellence, performance and community. With a clear pathway towards professional padel and the goal of becoming the first Irish player to break into the world’s top 100, sponsorship support would help fund international competition, elite training opportunities and continued player development. For businesses, it represents an opportunity to align with one of Ireland’s most promising young athletes at a pivotal stage in her sporting journey while supporting a proud Irish-based success story.

Anna has already begun putting that plan into practice, recently completing an intensive training week abroad with high-performance padel coach Juan Cabrera in Valencia, Spain. The short training block improved some key areas, in particular, the most attacking parts of her game: sharper, more compact volleys, better control and consistency on her overheads, alongside better decision making and court positioning under pressure.

“Training abroad with Juan was a real step up for me,” said Zuka. “It tightened up my volleys and gave me much more confidence to attack with my backhand. Training abroad allowed me to train with elite Spanish players ranked in the top 300, something we can’t replicate at home yet.”

Anna, whose family settled in Naas from Latvia and built their lives in the local community, remains closely tied to Naas Lawn Tennis Club, where she has volunteered and supported junior players throughout her rise. She competes as a brand ambassador with Team HEAD Ireland and is supported by a small group: her home club, Naas Lawn Tennis Club; Padelzone Celbridge; providing an indoor training venue for Anna, Padel54 (Moira, Co Down); for player support, and PadelPro.ie; for coaching and management services, as she builds the professional structure around her game. She continues to welcome partners who want to be part of an Irish sporting story still in its early chapters.