Which countries is padel tennis played?

November 06 2022

Which countries is padel tennis played?
Padel tennis is a huge mass participation sport in Spain, Argentina & the Middle East. It is growing quickly in the UK & has already been tipped for Olympics inclusion.

Padel tennis is well-established in Spain with more than 20,000 padel tennis courts across 2,400 clubs & with over six million players, overtaking tennis to become the country’s second biggest participation sport after football.

The sport is the fastest growing racket sport in the world & is gaining in popularity very quickly across Europe, in particular countries such as Italy, France & Sweden.

Between 2019 & 2021, the number of padel courts in Italy increased fivefold to almost 5,000.

In 2022, it was estimated that there are 89,900 active padel tennis players in the UK playing at 66 clubs offering over 200 padel tennis courts. In the UK, the popularity of padel tennis began to increase after The David Lloyd Leisure Group decided to embark on an ambitious expansion & development strategy which included the building of padel tennis courts at some of its tennis-based health clubs. David Lloyd Leisure plans to roll out padel tennis across its existing clubs, with a target of 90 courts over the next decade & three padel tennis courts as standard at all new venues.

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has now established its own padel tennis department & has built covered padel tennis courts at its headquarters in Roehampton. The LTA predict a 400 per cent growth in the number of courts by 2023, with Tom Murray, the head of padel tennis development at the LTA, predicting a target of 400 courts around the country by 2023.

Padel tennis is lobbying to be included in the Olympics & is likely to be included before many sports such as squash who have been lobbying for several years & continues to be rejected because it is not televisual. As well as its popularity in Spain, Argentina & Southern Europe, padel tennis has also experienced rapid growth in many Scandinavian countries where it has been promoted by football icon Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has opened a chain of five Padel Zenter Clubs in Sweden with a further site planned for Milan in Italy.

Other notable fans of padel tennis, include David Beckham & Rafa Nadal. Football legend Lionel Messi also plays padel tennis & is reported to have installed a padel tennis court in his back garden.

Leading Football Managers Jürgen Klopp & Pep Guardiola are keen padel tennis players, so much so that they have overseen the build of padel tennis courts at the training grounds of their respective premiership football clubs, Manchester City & Liverpool FC. Padel appeals to the masses & all demographics.