A sport that began in a garden too small for a tennis court in a Mexican villa now gathers over 35 million players worldwide. Padel is one of the fastest-growing sports in history – and its journey from Acapulco to Warsaw, Buenos Aires and New York is a story as unexpected as it is fascinating.
1969. Acapulco. One Garden and a Space Problem
The history of padel does not begin on courts, in a sports federation, or in a biomechanics laboratory. It begins with an ordinary, private problem: Enrique Corcuera, a Mexican businessman and keen racket sports enthusiast, had a villa in Acapulco with a beautiful garden – but one too small to fit a full-size tennis court.
Rather than giving up the game, Corcuera gave up the dimensions. He created his own smaller court measuring 20 × 10 metres with a central net, and since the garden was enclosed by walls, he decided to incorporate them into the game. The ball bounced off the walls – and instead of being a nuisance, it made the game more dynamic, unpredictable and simply better.
And so in 1969, by accident and out of necessity, padel was born.
Corcuera combined elements of tennis and squash, created rules suited to the new space, and began inviting guests to play. One of them was Alfonso de Hohenlohe – an aristocrat, man of the world and owner of the Marbella Club Hotel on the Costa del Sol in Spain. He was so impressed by the new game that he decided to take it back to Europe with him.
1974. Marbella. Europe Discovers Padel
Alfonso de Hohenlohe returned to Spain and in 1974 built the first padel courts in Europe – at the Marbella Club Hotel, one of the most exclusive resorts on the Costa del Sol. He introduced one important element that changed the character of the game: instead of full concrete walls he used metal mesh fencing. The game became more spectacular, faster and accessible to spectators.
Marbella became the European capital of padel. Through the 1970s, yachts, money and people from all over the world circled the courts at the Marbella Club – aristocracy, celebrities, businesspeople. Padel was fashionable. Padel was exclusive. But it was also too good to remain just a luxury.
Argentina Enters the Game
One of the guests playing in Marbella was Julio Menditeguy – an Argentine, member of a local tennis club there. He brought padel back to his homeland and built the first courts in Argentina: at Club Tortugas in Buenos Aires and at the Mar del Plata Ocean Club.
What grew slowly in Europe and largely among elites exploded democratically in Argentina. In the 1980s padel became a sport for everyone – accessible, cheaper to build than tennis, ideal for the climate and temperament of Argentinians who love team games, emotion and socialising. In 1988 the world’s first national padel association was founded in Argentina – the Asociación Padel Argentino. It was Argentina, not Spain, that first registered padel in a federation structure.
To this day Argentina remains the world’s second padel power after Spain – both in terms of player numbers and competitive level. In the world rankings, of the top 100 male players (2026), 57 come from Spain and 23 from Argentina.
How Padel Conquered the World – Stage by Stage
The 1980s brought the first wave of expansion. Padel reached Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, France, the United States and Canada. But for another decade it remained a niche sport outside Spain and Argentina.
The breakthrough came in Europe in the 1990s, when Spain began massively building court infrastructure. Padel left exclusive hotels and reached housing estates, sports centres and indoor facilities. By 2000 more people in Madrid were playing padel than tennis. That was the moment it became clear: padel was not a curiosity – it was a revolution.
The next wave – pan-European and global – came after 2018, when the World Padel Tour was established as a regular professional league, and in 2021 Swedes, Italians and Belgians began building courts at a rapid pace. The COVID-19 pandemic paradoxically accelerated this trend: an outdoor sport for four people, with no physical contact – padel met the needs of the post-pandemic world better than most disciplines.
The State of Play Today: 35 Million Players in 150 Countries
The numbers speak for themselves. According to the FIP (International Padel Federation) 2025 report:
- 35 million players actively play padel worldwide – up from 12 million in 2014
- 77,300 courts in over 150 countries and territories
- 24,600 clubs – 4,775 more than the previous year
- 42% growth in registered players in national federations year-on-year
- In 2025, 14,355 new courts were built – almost 40 per day
These are not the numbers of a niche sport. These are the numbers of a global phenomenon.
Country Rankings: Who Plays the Most?
Spain’s dominance is beyond dispute – but the global picture is far richer:
- Spain – approx. 5.5 million players, 16,000 courts. More people play padel here than tennis. It’s not just a sport, it’s a cultural obligation.
- Italy – approx. 1.5 million players, 9,050 courts. The fastest growth in Europe after Spain. In 2020 padel was a niche; in 2025 – mainstream.
- Argentina – approx. 1.4 million players. The birthplace of organised padel and a continuous source of the world’s best players.
- Mexico – approx. 1 million players. The country where padel was born, returning to favour after decades of being overtaken by other nations.
- Chile – approx. 1 million players. A strong South American scene.
- Sweden – approx. 600,000 players. A Northern European phenomenon: in 5 years Swedes fell in love with padel more than with tennis. The sport is more popular there than in the UK.
- France, Portugal, Belgium, Germany – hundreds of thousands of players, growing infrastructure and increasingly strong federations.
United States: The Sleeping Giant Wakes Up
The USA is one of the greatest paradoxes in padel history. A country where the sport arrived as early as the 1980s, yet for decades couldn’t seem to „catch” it. Tennis, pickleball and other racket games occupied the cultural and infrastructural space.
This changed radically between 2023 and 2026. The numbers are impressive:
- 688 courts operating in 31 states (2025) – a growth of over 51.5% year-on-year
- 112,000 players and growing – concentrated in California, Florida and Texas
- Player growth of 250% since 2022
- Over 70% of new sports facilities built in the USA in 2024 include padel courts
Projections from the US Padel Association speak of 30,000 courts and 10 million players by 2030. If they materialise, the USA will become one of the world’s largest padel markets within a decade.
Poland and Warsaw: Rising Stars on the World Map
And now the chapter being written right now – live, in 2025.
Polish padel barely existed a few years ago. In 2021 there were only about 30 courts in the entire country. Those were pioneering times, when most players didn’t know how padel differed from tennis.
Today the picture is completely different:
- 226 courts in 77 clubs – data from mid-2025
- Polish Padel Federation projections: 400–500 courts by end of 2025
- Five-year perspective: 3,000–5,000 courts nationwide
- No sport in the history of the Polish sports market has grown at this pace
At the centre of this boom is Warsaw. Warsaw Padel Club in Białołęka – the largest facility in Poland with 10 doubles courts – is just one example of the scale the Polish scene has already reached. The capital has several premium multi-court venues with restaurants, recovery zones and packed schedules seven days a week.
But the numbers are only part of the story. Warsaw Padel Experience – as players from abroad increasingly call the Polish capital – is above all about atmosphere. Warsaw is an ambitious, young and open-to-new-trends city. Padel has fitted into this vibe perfectly: start-ups and corporations, artists and athletes, all connected by one passion. Padel has become the new networking, a new way to meet people and celebrate success. On Warsaw courts you hear Polish, English, Spanish and Swedish – and that probably best captures what the Polish padel scene is today.
Why Is Padel Growing So Fast? A Few Answers
Sports economists, sociologists and players themselves have been asking this question for years. There are several answers, and all of them are true simultaneously.
The learning curve is short. After a few hours, a complete beginner can play a real match. Tennis requires months before you can play with friends. Padel – a few hours.
It’s a social sport by nature. You play in fours, in pairs, in the enclosed space of the court. You talk, laugh, make friends. Padel is more like a shared dinner than individual training.
Infrastructure is relatively inexpensive. A padel court takes up less space and costs less to build than a tennis court. That means it can be squeezed into a shopping centre, a multi-storey car park, a hotel roof.
A healthy attitude to mistakes. The walls „return” the ball – which means rallies last longer than in tennis and points are harder to win. Everyone gets to participate in the exchange, even if their technique isn’t perfect.
What’s Next?
Padel has joined the Olympic programme – it will appear in Los Angeles in 2028. That’s the moment that will change everything: the global reach of Olympic broadcasting will mean millions of people who have never heard of padel will see it for the first time. History shows that after every Olympic debut, a sport’s popularity grows dramatically.
The next decade belongs to the United States, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands and Asian countries just beginning their padel journey. If current trends hold, by 2035 we could be talking about 100 million players worldwide.
It all started in one garden in Acapulco in 1969. Who would have thought.
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Sources: FIP World Padel Report 2024 & 2025 (padelfip.com) | Padel.fyi – Padel Growth Statistics 2024 | Statista: Number of padel players by country 2024 | PalaHack: Global Padel Statistics 2025 | US Padel Association | zagrajwpadla.pl (Polish court data, March 2026) | Corcuera Padel Club – History of Padel | The Padel Paper – FIP World Padel Report 2025