Proud moment for dad of world No 1 Henry Patten

The proud father of tennis player Henry Patten has said his world number one ranking is the result of an "extraordinary" year of hard work.

Patten, from Manningtree in Essex, and his on-court partner Harri Heliovaara, from Finland, lost their French Open final on Saturday.

But they had the consolation of topping the official ATP rankings as the leading doubles players on the Monday.

"We're really thrilled for Henry, it's been a lot of work," said Matthew Patten, who still lives in Manningtree.

"It's a result of an extraordinary year's worth of tennis by the pair of them at a time, that I have to say, is an absolute golden age for British tennis."

Britons Neal Skupski, Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool also appear in the doubles top 10.

Patten would have become the first Briton to claim the men's doubles title in Paris during the Open era had he and Heliovaara triumphed.

He went to Culford School near Bury St Edmund's in Suffolk and is the eldest child out of four.

His dad said that "every parent knows the feeling" of watching your child achieve something in their life.

"Whether you are watching a five-year-old, 20-year-old or in Henry's case a 30-year-old playing tennis - it's the same feeling,"he said while speaking to BBC Essex breakfast presenter Sonia Watson.

Ruth Stocks, the mayor of Manningtree, said: "We are so proud as a tiny town to have Henry become very famous and I've watched him over the past couple of years and he's climbed up the ranks as he's gone along."

Speaking after the match in a press conference, Patten said: "It is an amazing achievement and one that we've been trying to achieve for a while."

He continued: "It took a lot to get to where we are today, I think the number one spot is a mark of consistency throughout the year."

The pair won the doubles title at Wimbledon in 2024 and the Australian Open in 2025.

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