Stop that racket Why tennis is not courting the rise of upstart cousin

Wimbledon, a fortnight of tennis, all-white dress codes, strawberries, Pimm's, royals and its famous queue awaits. What will probably be absent at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, however, is any mention of tennis's upstart cousin, padel.

- Caroline Davies

Unlike Roland-Garros in Paris, which set aside a court for this cross between tennis and squash, there is no planned promotion of padel in SW19, which may seem curious given the racket sport is one of the fastest growing in the world.

But then again, tennis has not exactly embraced the newcomer. Take the grumblings of seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic, for example, who has voiced fears that club tennis is "endangered" by venues converting tennis courts into smaller padel or pickleball courts because it's more economical.

Easier than tennis, with no overarm serve required, and with fans including Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, padel has seen a trebling of people playing it over the last year in the UK, with 400,000 using about 893 courts across 300 venues. Eight million Britons have expressed a desire to try it, according to a recent survey by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA).

Padel organisers are hoping Wimbledon will fuel an even greater boom as those inspired by the tennis but too intimidated to try it pick up a perforated padel racket instead. In anticipation, Plymouth city council has a pop-up court next to its big screen showing Wimbledon. Londoners can head to Tower Hill, where pop-up padel runs until October. At St Paul's Cathedral, padel courts open from 4 August. So why can't the two sports get along?