The Apprentice’s Max England: Being fired by Lord Sugar was a privilege – it was when Dan Evans ended my tennis profession that I actually felt humbled

Sharp as a razor in his slim-fitting suit, Max England tells Mail Sport a tale that begins with defeat by Dan Evans on the tennis court and ends with a seat at Lord’s Sugar’s boardroom table – and the most famous index finger in Britain pointing squarely at his temple.

Professional tennis player turned Apprentice candidate England was fired by Lord Sugar on Thursday night after losing out by 300-odd quid in a TV shopping channel task. With two weeks to go before he had the chance to present his padel business plan to Lord Sugar, it was the equivalent of a five-set defeat in a Wimbledon quarter-final.

Reflecting on the Apprentice, his life in tennis and the UK’s newest sporting addiction, England meets up with Mail Sport at Padium padel centre in London’s Canary Wharf.

England fell in love with tennis aged eight and was a good enough prospect to be backed by the Lawn Tennis Association, moving to train at the high performance centre in Bath aged 15.

He balanced school with travelling to international events, staying in Bath for his business degree, and crossed paths with many who have gone on to excellent careers.

‘Marcus Willis (he of the fairytale run through qualifying to face Roger Federer on Centre Court) was training in Bath at the same time as me,’ says England. ‘I used to compete against Billy Harris (world No 107) regularly. I played Kyle Edmund in the juniors.’

When did he realise he did not quite have what it takes to become a top professional?

‘I have a vivid recollection of that moment,’ the 31-year-old replies.

‘You need to be top 150 to be making a real living and at the time, I’d have been 22 or 23, I still thought that was possible.

‘Then I played Dan Evans in a Futures event and it was the first match when the ball was just taken out of my hand.

‘My game style was a very good serve and a big forehand – dominate play, on my terms. When I played Dan, he took that away from me.

‘It wasn’t a complete whitewash, it was one break in each set, but for me it was very obvious there were two or three more gears, at least, in his game.

‘I left humbled and also thankful that I’d been balancing my education alongside tennis.’

England went all in on business and after working in E-commerce he caught the padel bug which is becoming endemic in the UK.

The game is a hybrid between tennis and squash, played on a shrunken tennis court encompassed by walls, and with chunky bats dotted with holes. The lack of an overarm serve and the smaller area make padel substantially easier to pick up than tennis.

Andy Murray and Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk are investors in a padel company. Pep Guardiola had courts installed at Manchester City’s training ground; Lionel Messi has one at his house. David Beckham is a fan.

In the UK in 2019 there were 50 courts and 6,000 players; last year there were 763 courts and 235,000 players.

‘I started as an enthusiast and the more I played the more I recognized the size of the opportunity,’ says England. ‘It’s a super inclusive sport: as long as you have some basic coordination you can have a really fun game.

‘My vision is a premium centre with really good coaching to help youngsters get into higher levels of the game, as well as being a venue for people to play and then have coffee or beers afterwards, somewhere people would start to build relationships.’

Talking of relationships, the latest craze is padel dating.

‘A good friend of mine is running one and she’s selling out almost immediately,’ says England. ‘It’s like speed dating: eight guys, eight girls and then you rotate courts and play with different people.’

With his own range of MaxPadel bats already on the market England plans to open his first centre soon – and decided to chase investment in front of five million eyeballs on the BBC every week.

‘At first it was, Oh, that would be a fun experience,’ he says. ‘It was kind of tongue in cheek. Let’s apply and see how I get on.

‘In the background I was already devising a business plan and it just felt like it was manifested into existence. It sounds silly but there was just an overwhelming sense, even from the get go, that I’m gonna be on The Apprentice.’

Out of 80,000 applicants England was chosen as one of 18 and thrust headfirst into reality TV.

Mild mannered and softly spoken, he is not your typical pugnacious Apprentice candidate.

He was pleasantly surprised at how well he got on with the other candidates. He bonded with Mia Collins (a bodybuilder) and Frederick Afrifa (a junior sprint champion) over their athletic backgrounds and they are still in touch.

‘I knew there’d be some big characters in there,’ says England. ‘When you’ve had a big boardroom battle you’ve got to go and have dinner with that person, that can be hard to handle. But there was a mutual respect and understanding of: you do what you’ve got to do to win but at the end of the day we’re human beings and everyone was really respectful of that.’

There is no sport that could prepare one better than tennis for intense competition followed by collegiate friendship as soon as the match is over.

‘It’s not about being best friends with the person but it’s about being respectful. You see that with Roger and Rafa, with Lando Norris and Max Verstappen on Drive to Survive.

‘That’s where sport and business go hand in hand: you have to compartmentalize. You have to move on from failure quickly.’

To make another analogy, the life of a tennis player is peculiar, with non-stop travel and times of deep loneliness – but nothing compared to the weirdness of the Apprentice.

For several months candidates were holed up in Mansfield House, a £16million mansion in Hampstead, sleeping in dorm-style rooms and – England reveals – there was almost no contact with the outside world.

‘You don’t have a phone,’ he says. ‘There are allocated times to speak to family but it’s out of your hands. I got married two weeks before and I had limited access to speak to my wife. That was challenging.

‘One of the most frequent questions I get asked is, do you really get 20 minutes to get ready when you’re woken up in the morning of a task? Yes! These are long, hard days working in intense environments, a little bit sleep deprived as well.’

Each week the candidates are allowed out for their various tasks and then called back for a boardroom showdown with Lord Sugar.

‘Lord Sugar is very much what you see is what you get,’ says England. ‘He’s a no nonsense guy. If he tells you, you’ve got 30 seconds to tell me why I shouldn’t fire you and you fluff your lines, you’re in trouble. It is intimidating.’

More intimidating than facing Dan Evans across the net?

‘The boardroom was probably more intense,’ replies England with a laugh. ‘Tennis was my bread and butter whereas no one has gone to Lord Sugar’s boardroom before. It’s all very new, everyone is gunning for the investment.’

England may have missed out on the £250,000 windfall but he is determined to prove Lord Sugar has missed out by not getting in on the padel bonanza.

‘It was an amazing, surreal experience,’ says England. ‘I don’t feel there’s any more I could have done to articulate myself better or fight my cause. I’m really proud of that.

‘The way I look at it is: it’s a privilege. Not many people can say they’ve been fired by Lord Sugar on The Apprentice!’

Not many can say they have lost a pro tennis match to Dan Evans, either. And surely only one man on earth can say he has done both.