Road to Pro · 2026 Season

Anna
Zuka

Irish International Padel Player

A 19-year-old from Naas chasing a place in the professional game. She's now Ireland's No. 1 ranked player, the highest ranked male or female Irish player on the FIP international circuit, training with a smart, science-backed approach.

Anna Zuka holding her HEAD padel racket Team HEAD Ireland
No.1
Ireland Ranking ↗
504
FIP World Ranking ↗
6
Senior Ireland Caps
19
Years Old · UCD Student
Anna's Story

A competitive
mind on the
rise

Anna wants to compete at the very top of the sport. She is now the highest ranked international player Ireland has, male or female, and as far as we can tell she's the only teenage girl anywhere in the Irish women's padel rankings.

Padel is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, and Anna is right at the front of its rise in Ireland. She plays across the Irish, UK and international circuits so she is always testing her game against the best players she can find.

The Journey

Road to Pro

2024

Finding the game

Drawing on skills developed in other sports, Anna adapted quickly to padel and soon climbed to No. 6 in the Irish rankings.

Padel courts at Naas Lawn Tennis Club
2025

Breaking through

Anna established herself in Ireland's No. 1 pairing at the European Championships, winning two of three matches. She ended the year ranked No. 2 in Ireland and reached a world ranking of 984 in November.

Ireland celebrating a 2-1 win over Romania at the FIP Euro Padel Cup
2026

Going pro

Anna started the year on fire. She won the biggest prize money tournament ever held in Ireland without dropping a set, then represented Ireland at the Four Nations, beating the Welsh and Scottish top pairs and taking England's No. 1 pair right to the wire. By July she had climbed to No. 1 in Ireland and a career-high FIP world ranking of 504.

Anna with her Irish Padel Tour trophy
Anna Zuka in her Ireland jersey at the Four Nations
Representing Ireland

Wearing the green at the Four Nations

Selected Results

On the
scoreboard

Anna Zuka and Susan McRann beat Romania 6-3 6-4
FIP Euro Padel Cup · Win vs Romania
Anna Zuka and Anna Kurkul beat Montenegro 6-2 6-3
FIP Euro Padel Cup · Win vs Montenegro
Anna with the Ireland team at the Four Nations
Four Nations · Team Ireland

Anna's world ranking is tracked by the Fédération Internationale de Padel. Recent FIP events include the FIP Silver London Padel Open and FIP Bronze events in Spain, Poland and Dublin.

View official FIP profile →
2026 Performance Plan

Four pillars of
the season

01

Compete

Around six FIP Bronze & Silver events across the UK and Europe, plus the Irish Padel Tour and Ireland selection for match sharpness.

02

Train Abroad

A minimum of six weeks at a high-performance professional academy to raise her level against elite competition.

03

Build Physically

Year-round strength & conditioning in structured blocks: speed, strength, power, resilience and endurance.

04

Represent

Compete for Ireland when selected and prepare for the European Games 2027 cycle.

The Approach

"Anna combines a uniquely professional approach to training and competition with a sponsor-ready character: highly driven, coachable, and consistent." Kevin O'Brien, Head Padel Coach at Naas LTC, Sport Scientist (PhD) and former Head of S&C at Tennis Ireland

Every decision in Anna's training is backed by data.

She has done lab based VO₂max and performance testing, and her strength and conditioning runs all year round in structured blocks. The plan is built around her own numbers. Things like landing mechanics, reactive strength, power and conditioning all get tracked and pushed on week by week.

Anna Zuka training on the padel court at night
Partners

Backing the
journey

Team HEAD Ireland · Equipment

Proud to wear HEAD

Anna signed with Team HEAD Ireland as a brand ambassador in April 2026. Through the partnership, HEAD Ireland provides Anna with rackets, clothing, footwear, bags and balls to support her development on her road to becoming a professional player.

Visit HEAD Ireland →

Anna Zuka with her HEAD Speed padel racket
Supported by
Follow Along

Inside the
journey

Follow @anna_zuka_
Could this be you?

Partner with
Anna's road to pro

This is an Irish sporting story that is only getting started. Partnership options run from branded kit and social content to corporate padel days and community clinics. It is a rare chance to get behind a Kildare athlete who is competing for Ireland at the top end of a fast growing sport.

Prefer email or a DM? Write to annazukapadel@gmail.com or message @anna_zuka_ on Instagram.