Tennis and padel courts backed by Andy Murray coming to seafront

Tennis and padel courts will come to the seafront by early summer.

There will be several courts near Rockwater in Hove as part of the Kingsway to the Sea project.

Brighton and Hove City Council selected Game4Padel, the UK’s leading padel company, to operate the facility which will have six tennis and four padel courts.

Padel is a mix between tennis and squash which is played within an enclosed court.

The newly named Hove Beach Park is being created through the Kingsway to the Sea project which will be a new park stretching from Hove Lagoon to the King Alfred Leisure Centre.

An illustration of the tennis and padel courts in Hove (Image: Supplied)

Councillor Julie Cattell, lead member for major projects, said: “We are looking forward to seeing tennis and padel thrive as part of a strong sports offering in the new park alongside bowls, croquet, the new skatepark, pump track and roller area.

”The company has a number of tennis stars as investors and ambassadors, including Andy and Jamie Murray, Annabel Croft and Andrew Castle."

Game4Padel was operating an uncovered padel court at Withdean Sports Complex and was given permission to install three permanent covered courts. These are due to open this summer too.

Game4Padel CEO Michael Gradon said: “We are delighted to have been selected following a competitive pitch for this exciting regeneration project. We pride ourselves on our ability to build vibrant communities where we operate our venues, and we are sure that with the current demand for padel and tennis in Brighton and Hove, this site will soon become a thriving location for anyone wanting to play these racket sports.

“Our focus is on making sure that everybody feels welcome to play at Hove Beach Park. We have built our padel business on a pay and play approach to ensure that padel is accessible to all, and we will be adopting a similar approach across padel and tennis here in Brighton and Hove.”

The council said the park is mostly funded by the government's Levelling Up Fund.