History & curiosities
The history of padel
One of the world's fastest-growing sports was invented by accident, by a man who did not have room for a tennis court.
Padel is barely older than the microwave oven. Its entire history fits into a single human lifetime, and it begins with a practical problem in Acapulco.
1969: Acapulco, Mexico
Enrique Corcuera wanted a tennis court at his home. He did not have the space for a full one. So he built a smaller court, and because the plot was bounded by walls, he decided to let players use them rather than treat them as an obstacle.
That one decision is the whole sport. Everything that makes padel different from tennis — the longer rallies, the tactical patience, the fact that a beginner can keep the ball in play on day one — comes from a man working around the size of his garden.
1974: Marbella, Spain
Prince Alfonso of Hohenlohe, a friend of Corcuera, played on that court and brought the idea back to Spain. He built courts at the Marbella Club, and padel became fashionable among the resort's international crowd almost immediately.
1975: Argentina
Argentine businessman Julio Menditeguy encountered the game in Marbella and took it home. Argentina embraced it more completely than anywhere else, and by the 1990s the country had hundreds of thousands of players and produced the generation that would dominate the sport professionally for decades.
1991 onwards: a real sport
- The International Padel Federation was founded in 1991, giving the sport a governing body.
- The first World Championship followed in 1992, in Madrid.
- Spain and Argentina became the sport's two heartlands, and remain so.
- Professional circuits developed through the 2000s and 2010s, producing the first genuinely global stars.
The 2010s and 2020s boom
Padel spent forty years as an essentially Spanish and Argentine sport. Then, in little more than a decade, courts appeared across Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, France, the Gulf and beyond. The reason is not complicated: padel is easier to learn than tennis, more social than squash, and a court fits where a tennis court does not.
For where the sport stands technically, see padel versus tennis, and for the people who made it, the legends of padel.
Frequently asked questions
Who invented padel?
Enrique Corcuera, in Acapulco, Mexico, in 1969. He built a small walled court at his home because he did not have room for a full tennis court.
Where is padel most popular?
Spain and Argentina remain the sport's two heartlands, with Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, France and the Gulf states growing fastest in recent years.
How old is padel?
The game dates from 1969, making it younger than most modern sports. Its first international federation was founded in 1991 and the first World Championship was held in 1992.
Why did padel grow so fast?
It is easy to learn, played exclusively in doubles so it is social by design, and a padel court takes up far less space than a tennis court.