Padel
Padel is a racquet sport that combines elements of tennis and squash. It is usually played in doubles on a small enclosed court with glass and mesh walls that are part of the game. It has the same scoring system as tennis, but different rules. For example: the rackets are solid and perforated. Balls are played off the court walls, similar to squash. A serve must place the ball at or below the waist level in the opposite court. Padel originated in Mexico in 1969. It became hugely popular in Spain and Argentina.
As of 2023, there are more than 25 million active players in more than 90 countries, according to the International Padel Federation. In 2023, the global padel market was valued at approximately €2 billion The Padel World Championship has been held every second year since 1992, with Argentina, Spain, or Brazil reaching the final in each competition.
History
The sport is thought to have been invented in Acapulco, Mexico, by Enrique Corcuera in 1968, after he modified his squash court to incorporate elements of platform tennis. Initially, courts utilized concrete walls and surfaces, which obscured visibility for spectators. To improve the viewing experience and gameplay, these were eventually replaced by transparent glass walls and artificial turf.Many well-known professional padel players have previously competed in tennis, including former WTA Tour players Roberta Vinci and Lara Arruabarrena. Padel remained a niche sport for decades but its popularity soared during the COVID-19 pandemic as it could be played outdoors and did not involve physical contact.
Padel was included in the 2023 European Games in Kraków, Poland and nearby. The International Padel Federation plans to have 75 national federations for padel to become an Olympic sport for the 2032 Summer Olympics in Brisbane, Australia. Three padel courts can typically fit within the area of a standard tennis court; consequently, many clubs are converting facilities to accommodate a higher density of players. In the U.S., padel courts cost between $60,000 and $80,000 to build. In 2023, Deloitte projected the number of padel courts potentially will reach 84,000 by 2026.
Rules
- Players: Doubles is the most common format, using a 10 by 20 meters court. Singles uses a 6 by 20 meters court instead.
- Serves: Serves are always underarm and the ball is hit below waist level. Balls which hit the walls around the court after bouncing on the ground are still in play. However, unlike shots during a rally, a service is considered a fault if the ball touches the wire fence after bouncing.
- Balls: Padel balls are similar to tennis balls but are slightly smaller and have less pressure. Official regulations mandate that the balls must be uniform in color, strictly limited to yellow or white.
- Rackets: Padel rackets are made of a composite material without strings. The striking surface is perforated by cylindrical holes measuring between 9 and 13 millimeters in diameter. The racket is similar to the one used in platform tennis but has its own specifications. The handle must feature a non-elastic safety cord with a maximum length of 35 centimeters, which is mandatory to wear around the wrist during play.
- Court: The court has a floor made of concrete, plastic, or artificial grass. It is similar to a tennis court, only smaller, measuring 10 by 20 meters, with a 0.88-meter high net in the middle. The court is surrounded by 4-meter high walls made of glass or brick, or a fence when outside.
Scoring
Court
The playing field is a rectangle wide and long , enclosed by walls. The court is divided into two half-rectangles by a net up to high in the centre and at sides.The superstructure is made from connecting 3m-high, 2m-wide panels, with an additional 1m mesh height over the glass back walls. This additional 1-meter height extends 2 meters along the side walls from each corner. Consequently, the back walls and service corners reach a total height of 4 meters, while the remaining side walls stand at 3 meters.
Glass panels are used for the back walls and the adjacent corner side sections, while metal mesh panels constitute the remainder of the sides. The service lines are placed before the back wall and another line in middle divides the central rectangle in half. All lines have a width and are clearly visible. The minimum height between the playing field and an obstacle is.
Adoption
Several digital platforms have emerged to support padel players, clubs, and organisers, reflecting the sport's increasing professionalization and global reach.Europe
The Padel Pro Tour was the professional padel circuit created in 2005 as a result of the agreement between a group of organisers of padel matches and the Association of Professional Players of Padel and the Spanish Feminine Association of Pádel. In 2013 the World Padel Tour was founded by Catalonia brewery Estrella Damm with the approval of the AJPP, whereas the PPT was shut down. The WPT was based in Spain but included tournaments in other European countries as well as Argentina, Brazil, and the United Arab Emirates.In 2022, Premier Padel was founded in a partnership between the FIP and Qatar Sports Investments.In August 2023, Qatar Sports Investments acquired the World Padel Tour. This agreement unified the two rival tours into a single global circuit under the Premier Padel brand, effective from the 2024 season. Despite padel's origins in Spanish-speaking countries, the number of padel players and clubs in the northern part of Europe is growing. Due to climatic conditions, Northern European nations such as Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway primarily utilize indoor facilities. Conversely, outdoor or semi-covered courts are more common in Central and Southern European countries like Belgium, Italy, and France.
In Spain, Sweden, and Portugal there are more people playing padel than tennis. According to the Playtomic Global Padel Report 2025, around 3,200 clubs were formed in 2024.
Spain
Padel is the second most popular participation sport in Spain behind association football. As of 2022, there were five million players in Spain and more than 20,000 courts. In October 2023, the Daily Mail and General Trust invested in the Hexagon Cup, a Madrid-based padel competition involving six franchise teams owned by celebrities.Sweden
The Swedish Padel Association was included as a member of the Swedish Sports Confederation in 2021. The number of courts in Sweden grew from 560 in 2019 to more than 4,000 in 2022, exceeding demand at some point. From August 2022 to August 2023, over 120 Swedish padel courts went bankrupt due to market saturation, according to SVT.France
France has emerged as a key growth market for padel in Europe, where the sport is officially managed by the French Tennis Federation. As of 2024, the country is estimated to have over 500,000 players and is on track to surpass 3,000 courts by early 2025. The player base is predominantly male, typically aged between 30 and 50, with many having a background in tennis.UK
The sport's popularity along the Costa del Sol in southern Spain and the Algarve in southern Portugal has exposed it to a large number of British visitors, leading to an increased popularity of the sport in the UK and a launch of the UK Padel Federation in 2011. Padel is competing with tennis and squash, whose popularity is declining.As of 2023, according to the Lawn Tennis Association, the sport’s governing body in the UK, there were 90,000 padel players in the country, compared with 915,000 tennis players. By 2025, the Lawn Tennis Association said that there were 1,000 padel courts open across 325 venues in the UK, up from only 68 in 2019.