ANYONE FOR PADEL?

It may look like a game you'd play at the beach, but padel is now challenging tennis to become the world's number one racquet sport. Even Stormzy thinks so!

- Rob Kemp

Looks can be deceiving in the sport of Padel tennis. Behind the walls of an unremarkable hangerlike building on a Slough industrial estate, the rapidly growing racquet sport is in full swing.

The five indoor courts at Slough Padelhub are a hive of activity with some of the UK's leading elite players introducing the game to a bunch of select media. Video cameras are whirring, music is pumping, there's pizza and padel chat around the bar area, all orchestrated by R3 Sport, a key mover in the rapid growth of padel tennis in the UK.

According to the Lawn Tennis Association - the National Governing Body of Padel too - during the period of 2020-23 the number of padel courts in Britain grew from 50 to 350, while annual participation rose from 6,000 to 129,000 by the end of 2023. By the beginning of 2025 the forecast is over 700 courts and 200,000 players.

Even grime superstar Stormzy is getting in on the act. The multi-platinum artist has joined fast-growing business Padel Social Club as an investor. “ Padel isn’t just another sport - it’s got something that draws everyone in, whether you’re new to the game or already hooked, as I am,” said Stormzy.

And it’s not hard to see how it’s becoming so popular.

“It’s easier to pick up than tennis—you can have fun almost immediately,” explains Chris Salisbury, 34, the LTA number 1 in the sport. Padel courts measure 10m by 20m, and so take up a third of the space of a traditional tennis court. This has some obvious economic benefits - three courts mean 12 players (padel is played principally as doubles) paying to use a space where previously only two people paid to play.