Anyone for a game of padel? Meet the tennis-like sport even Andy Murray can't resist

It’s the world’s fastest-growing sport that you’ve never heard of. Yet with more than 18 million players worldwide, in over 90 countries, it’s probably about time you got familiar with padel.

Padel (pronounced paddle) is ostensibly a cross between tennis and squash. Played in glass-sided courts that are about a third of the size of a full tennis court, pairs of players use racquets that look like enlarged ping-pong paddles to hit balls across the court and off the walls. Service is underhand and points are scored as in tennis.

Believe it or not, the sport is currently enjoying such a boom that Sir Andy Murray has backed a business venture that aims to open courts in British shopping centres. Famous fans are known to include Jurgen Klopp, David Beckham, Maria Sharapova, Raphael Nadal, Dragon Peter Jones and Bradley Walsh.

Physically, the game is less demanding than other racquet sports and, because the paddle is smaller and closer to the hand, coordination and control is easier. With a lower barrier to entry, most people can pick it up and play at a proficient level within an hour. At least, that’s what I’m hoping as I book my first session at my local tennis and squash club in Ashtead, Surrey.

There are currently around 6,000 active padel players in Britain and 107 courts in 52 venues, according to the Lawn Tennis Association which governs the sport. It forecasts a further 280 courts by 2023. Similar expansion is taking place across Europe. In Spain, where padel is well-established, there are around six million regular players. It is rapidly growing in popularity in Italy and Sweden, where a surge in interest has led to over 2,000 new courts (some floating on water) and a million players. Such is the padel-mania in the Nordic nation that dating app Tinder even co-opted a court so singletons could meet for a game… to love, presumably.

The UK already has a world class competitor. Tia Norton, 18, from Leamington, became the first British woman to compete in and win a World Padel Tour match at the Malaga Open in Spain this month, with her Swedish partner, Amanda Girdo. Tia is now 184th in the world rankings, making her GB’s top player. Her career so far has been funded by her parents, with subsidised training and court time provided by Stratford Padel Club at London’s Olympic Park.

“I played tennis from the age of seven and tried padel for the first time at 12,” says Tia. “A few weeks later, I entered trials for the Under-14 GB team and was selected for the World Championships in Mexico, where I managed to get to the quarter finals. After that, I stopped playing tennis.”

Top padel players earn a tiny fraction of the prize money available to pro-tennis players, but Tia has no regrets about sticking with the lesser-known sport and has deferred a place at Nottingham University to study architecture so she can continue competing.

“The top prize money is around 4,000 Euros between the pair. You can get more from sponsorship,” she says. “But it’s been an incredible experience and I wouldn’t change it for anything.”

Anka Mandleson, co-owner of the Stratford Padel Club where Tia trains, says the sport has overtaken football in terms of new recruits.

“The increase has been beyond belief,” she says. “We started in December 2018 with fewer than 50 players, right now we have over 2,500. We see 30 to 50 new players per week and we’ve heard that grassroots football doesn’t even achieve that level of interest. We have several ATP top 500 tennis players regularly playing at the club, where you [can also] have a beer, eat some paella and find a welcome like you would at your friend’s house.” The club eases people into the sport with half an hour of coaching and a three-month membership for £10.

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) hopes that, in addition to dedicated clubs like Stratford, UK tennis and squash clubs will add padel courts to attract new players – following the examples of France and Italy where national tennis federations also govern the game and have managed to take the sport from around 100 courts to over 1,000 in a short space of time.

While earlier this year, Edinburgh-based Game4Padel, backed by Sir Andy, agreed a 10-year lease to operate courts at Westfield London shopping centre in Shepherds Bush.

“The LTA views padel as a way to increase participation and support tennis clubs that might be struggling with declining participation,” says Tom Murray, head of padel. “Because the game is not power dominant, the age group is wide, from youngsters to seniors – even up to 85. The whole family can play together.”

He admits that Covid has helped the game, with people desperate to get back to exercising after the lockdown and seeking new sports to try.

So to see what the fuss is about I book a session at my local, Ashtead Tennis and Squash Club. It opened a padel court in October 2020 and has already attracted 75 new members.

“The timing couldn’t have been better,” explains courts manager Rachael Burgess. “When we could open outdoors again, the padel sessions were incredibly popular. It’s a game for all ages and abilities and a lot of older players find it more forgiving than tennis.”

“It is really quick to pick it up, even for people with no racquet skills,” explains coach Jo Robinson, reassuringly, before handing me what looks like a large version of the sort of paddles readers of the Fifty Shades novels might be familiar with.

After a demonstration of the basics, she feeds me some balls, which look like tennis balls but are less tensile. Having previously played squash, my reaction is to hoof them with gusto, sending one sailing over the boundary onto a car outside.

“A little less power,” advises Jo, gently.

Once I’ve dampened down my urge to smash, it becomes easier to control and place the ball. Serving is much simpler than tennis, as the ball is bounced once and then hit underarm. It is struck with a flat head, rather than angled for spin, which also makes for a more controlled game, especially for novices like me.

After a crash course we embark on a game with a couple. I eye my opponent across the net. He might be tall but he’s no spring chicken and I fizz a serve at him, which hits the side wall. He doesn’t even attempt to return it. My Andy Murray fist-pump celebration is cut short, however, when I am told it was out. My next serve stays in and the ball is sent back to me straight down the middle with such accuracy and speed I can only lunge and miss.

Once we get into our stride however, it is apparent why the sport is enjoying such popularity. While it would take hours of practice to get to a similar level of proficiency at tennis, padel comes pretty easily. After a few smoother rallies, I’m hooked.

With the groundswell of interest that the sport is already attracting, it seems certain that there will be many more padel fans taking to courts in the coming months. Next stop? Surely the Olympics.