Today, more than 50 years after its creation in Acapulco, Mexico, padel has gained over 25 million enthusiasts in more than 90 countries around the world.
Among them is Andy Murray, three-time tennis champion, who has known the sport since he was a teenager training in Spain.
“I think it’s a great social sport,” Murray said in an interview with CNN. “I know many former tennis players, when they stop playing, start practicing and find that it’s great for fitness, but not as demanding as tennis.”
Unlike tennis, padel is usually played in doubles, and the same scoring system is used in both sports.
Padel rackets are smaller, thicker than tennis rackets, and the impact surface is made entirely of carbon fiber or fiberglass – different from the string rackets used in tennis, squash, or badminton, or the wooden rackets used in pickleball.
Although similar to pickleball – which has gained popularity in the United States in recent years, padel has been gaining traction in other parts of the world, such as Europe and South America.
Last year, for example, it is estimated that around 15,000 new padel courts were registered in Europe.
But it is in Spain that the game has truly flourished. There are over six million active players and more than 20,000 courts, making padel the second most popular sport, trailing only football.
Murray, who won his three Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon and the US Open between 2012 and 2016, sees a bright future for the sport, so much so that he invested in Game4Padel, a leading provider of padel courts in the UK.
He is part of a list of celebrity ambassadors and investors for the company, including his brother Jamie, former world number 1 in men’s doubles, Liverpool and Netherlands footballer Virgil Van Dijk, and former Wales international rugby player Jonathan Davies.
Played on a court one-third the size of a tennis court, padel is low-impact and low-intensity compared to other racquet sports – something that, along with the satisfying sound of the ball hitting, has contributed to its popularity.
The sport also has an expanding professional circuit, the No World Padel Tour, although currently, the strength of padel in numbers is better displayed in amateur play. Will the sport ever reach the same level of popularity as tennis?
Source: CNN