World rackets champion Ben Cawston rubber-stamped his arrival on Europe’s elite pickleball scene this week – and he’s loving the “slightly more laidback” environment of his newly-adopted sport.
Ben, 24, is the reigning world no.1 and world champion in rackets, a sport played on a larger version of a squash court, mainly in English public schools and exclusive country clubs in the USA and Canada.
He first got into the sport through his father, who coached rackets at Winchester College in Hampshire. Despite being a state school boy himself (he was once banned from the national public schools doubles competition for being a pupil at Westgate comprehensive) Ben worked his way up the junior rankings to the very top of the senior game, turbo boosted by a six-month spell as a coach at Queen’s Club where he played every day.
As a child, Ben was also a nationally ranked squash player and highly accomplished at table tennis. His bewilderingly quick hand speed – honed on the rackets court where the ball travels at up to 150mph – has proved to be a formidable asset at the kitchen line of a pickleball court.
Ben’s flirtation with pickleball began at last October’s English Nationals in Bolton, where he reached the quarter-finals in singles and men’s doubles. Since then, he has played at the Mediterranean Open, Rotterdam Open, APP Miami Open and in Madrid. This week, however, he has made two major breakthroughs which have announced his arrival as a major player on the pro scene.
Ben achieved his first pro gold medal at last weekend’s Paris Open alongside Louis Laville in the men’s doubles – and proudly posed underneath the Eiffel Tower with his medal!
He was also named as vice-captain to Mollie Kubrick-Finney for season two of the Franklin Premier Pickleball League, having played only a stand-in role last season.
Playing in the major rackets tournaments (British and US Opens and the World Championships) remains his bread and butter for now in addition to a spot of coaching, but Ben admits he would “love to make pickleball my main priority at some point.”
He currently plays two or three times a week and has quickly been embraced into the community, becoming firm friends with Britain’s leading players Louis, Freddie Powell and James Chaudry.
“I have really good mates in rackets, but it’s nice to have a different group of friends and operate in a slightly more laidback setting,” Ben tells Pickleball52. “I’m just surrounded by people I feel very close and similar to. Guys like Freddie are there to have a great time and that’s exactly what I’m there for as well.
“I’m not playing as much rackets as I used to, but I’m going to try to keep playing both sports. In pickleball, I want to catch up with the other top players in Europe and some of the Americans too.”
The system at the top end of rackets is akin to boxing’s. To earn a crack at the world title you have to become the world no.1 – thus earning the right to challenge the incumbent champion by beating them over two matches. Ben did precisely that to previous champion, Tom Billings, in Chicago and London in April 2023 and no-one has beaten him at a major tournament since then to earn the right to challenge his world champion status.
Ben will dedicate training blocks to rackets in the build-up to major rackets tournaments but focus on pickleball training and competitions in between. He is “super excited” for Franklin PPL season two, having filled in just once last year, winning five of his six matches and earning the MVP award in Cambridge.
“I’m in Molly’s team so it will be great to play some mixed together,” he says. “I think we’ve got a pretty good chance but it’s hard to pick who the best of the six teams are. I didn’t really get the chance to be part of the team last year, so I’m looking forward to doing as well as possible this time around.”
