21 countries and 4 continents reflect the internationalization of the World Padel Tour

The World Padel Tour is as international as it’s ever been. In total, 700 players from 4 continents and 21 countries have been present throughout the 16 tournaments on this season’s calendar.

The progressive growth of padel, boosted by the international expansion carried out by the World Padel Tour, has seen more countries around the globe represented at every tournament.

As padel continues to consolidate itself at traditional countries such as Spain or Argentina, new members are joining the great padel family. The professional tour is a huge attraction in different countries and new facilities are being built, with the number of players increasing. The recipe is starting to bear its fruits and more and more countries are starting to form a part of the World Padel Tour.

Spain and Argentina are still the two giants of the game, both in terms of players and the rankings. Spain, with 290 male players and 167 female players in the rankings, has the largest amount of professional players. In Europe, Portugal is the second nation with the largest presence with 30 players in both categories. After Portugal comes France with 27 players and there are a further five nations in Europe with at least one representative on tour.

Argentina, with 19 female players and 118 male players, has the largest presence out of any South American nation. Brazil, where padel is gradually growing, follows with 10 professional players, which includes the world number 1 Pablo Lima and one of the world’s best, Marcello Jardim. Chile, Uruguay, Peru and Venezuela are also showing signs of growth.

Mexico, one of the birth places of padel, also has one representative in each category.

Africa has two professional players, with South Africa and Cameroon the pioneering nations in the continent.

Padel has also reached the Middle East after touching down in the United Arab Emirates, which is present in the men’s tour.

The internationalization process, guided by the World Padel Tour, continues to advance and we will surely witness more nations joining next season.

Article from www.worldpadeltour.com

October 12, 2016

PADELBOX ALL GLASS COURTS

The Padel Box is an American based company that promotes Padel in the USA. We have been working in the metal industry for over 15 years and our main manufacture have installed over 2000 courts all over the World. We currently have four very successful installations in Los Angeles. At South End Racquet Club we have installed 2 Padel courts over an existing tennis court which has been especially successful.

We not only offer a full management service, starting with the installation and maintenance of the court but we also provide detailed and innovate design solutions with OUR COMPLETE TURN KEY SERVICE.

Check out this new All Glass designs.

September 24, 2016

Tennis legends John McEnroe, Yannick Noah, Mats Wilander playing padel

Tennis legends take on the best padel players on the planet

July 22, 2016

New Adidas Padel Rackets available in the USA

What is your style of play?

Whatever it is, the important thing is

that there is a racket suitable for your way

of facing each match. It’s not just winning

that is important but how you feel doing

it. Let your game flow with the new 2016

adidas collection. Available at www.thepadelshop.com

May 28, 2016May 28, 2016

Qualifying Rounds to the XIII° World Padel Championships for National Teams Lisboa 2016.

The draw-lot for composition of the National Teams groups of the classification phase to the XIII ° World Padel Championships Lisbon 2016 has been done in Lisbon.

Were attending the Draw-Lot Ceremony the President of the I.P.F. Mr. Daniel Patti, the President of the Portuguese Federation of Paddle Mr. Ricardo Da Silva Oliveira, the President of Jamor, organising company of the World Padel Championships Mr. João Lagos, players of Portuguse National Team, organiser’s staff, media and public.

The Group A Female will play from June 10th. to 12th. in Rijswijk-The Haghe, The Netherlands, and the Group B from August 26th to 28th. in Ghent, Belgium. The Group A is composed by The Netherlands, Germany, United Kingdom and France, and in the Group B are includes Belgium, USA, Switzerland and Finland.

Only the National Team who will win the Round-Robin of the own group will classify to play the Final Phase to be held in the city of Lisbon from the 14th till 20th of November, 2016.

The National Team who will win the Group (after Round-Robin phase) will classify to play the Final Phase to be held in the city of Lisbon from the 14th till 20th of November, 2016, and the two second of each group will play a definitive match (of three single matches) in order to try to reach the third available place.

The California TEAM is ready to fight!!

October 14, 2015October 14, 2015

MBA Student Vies for Padel Championship

Clear cages, spiking ricocheted balls and peak adrenaline rushes paired with speed and power are among the most telling signs for this racket sport called padel—a motley combination of tennis, racquetball and squash. While the sport is seeing international growth, here in the United States very few know the sport.

MBA student Alexander Frias, on the other hand, knows the sport well. He will compete in his third Padel World Championship later this fall in Malaga, Spain. The competition will begin Nov. 9.

Alexander Frias playing Padel

“I’m extremely excited, and I can’t wait to compete,” Frias said. “But at the same time, I’m very nervous. I’ll be flying thousands of miles to represent the United States. I feel very fortunate and blessed to have such an opportunity.”

Padel is most familiar throughout Europe and South America, with prominent teams from Spain, Argentina, France, Germany, Mexico and even Canada. Padel has yet to take off in the United States but various league attempts to make padel an Olympic sport could change that.

The U.S. Padel team is currently ranked among the top 10 teams in the world, and last world championship, the team finished in ninth.

“This championship, I hope to win the entire thing,” Frias said.

Having played padel professionally for three years, the 22-year-old MBA student was first introduced to padel at the age of 18, when he met the team captain of the U.S. Padel team, Mike May. May offered Frias the opportunity to audition for the national padel team.

Padel player Alexander Frias talks with Mike May, captain of the national team.

Frias said much of his success in padel is due to his tennis background, having competed nationally on the junior’s level. “All I ever wanted to do was become a professional tennis player,” Frias said. “I devoted my entire life to it.”

Training for six hours a day through all four years of high school and frequent traveling resulted in Frias leaving the sport. “Tennis made me understand hard work and becoming mentally stronger,” he said. “But it just took a toll on me overall.”

Compared to tennis, Frias said he enjoyed padel because it was new and exciting. “It was something I wanted to challenge myself with,” he said.

Alexander Frias
In the Business of Sports

Frias follows in the footsteps of several family members who attended St. Thomas. His parents Elmira and Jesus attended UST, with his father earning an MBA in finance in 1991. His aunt Elsma Hunter and uncle Deacon Will Hunter both earned a Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies in 2011. His sister Danielle graduated with a communication degree in 2014.

As an MBA student with a finance concentration, Frias said his love for both finance and padel are completely different.

“Finance is helping me understand a lot of how the world works and how you can essentially link it to anything,” he said. “Padel being such a huge sport in the world but not yet in the United States gives it a lot of potential that has yet been exposed.”

Dr. Charlene Dykman, professor of management at the Cameron School of Business, said Frias is an energetic and engaged student: “To compete at this level says a lot about his sense of commitment and self-discipline.”

CONGRATULATIONS ALEX!!

September 15, 2015