By Kevin Rademeyer, Sports Journalist.
Photo Credit: Premier Padel.
What happened in Pretoria last weekend is happening again in London, but possibly even on a bigger stage. Premier Padel has arrived at the business end of its first London P1, and with seven of the world’s top eight men’s and women’s pairs still standing, the sport is offering a glimpse of what it could become as a global spectator spectacle.
Olympia London is preparing for a blockbuster semifinal Saturday after a week that has already delivered packed sessions, sporting celebrities and the sort of atmosphere Premier Padel has long craved outside its traditional strongholds.
For South African fans, the timing is particularly interesting.
Only a week after the SunBet Arena in Pretoria produced sold out crowds across finals weekend, London is showing that the appetite for elite padel is not confined to Spain or Latin America.
South Africa got its own taste of the sport’s potential when fans packed the arena to watch the world’s best, while players such as Zoe Kruger, Richard Ashforth and Luan Krige stayed on to watch the action long after their own campaigns had ended.
The message was clear. People are not merely playing padel anymore. They want to watch it. And they are beginning to understand why.
Padel has the accessibility of tennis, the walls of squash and a tactical complexity that reveals itself with every rally. At the highest level, it can shift from patient chess to explosive theatre in seconds. A defensive lob can suddenly become an attack. A ball that appears dead can rebound from the glass and remain alive. Then comes the finish, often with a smash that sends the ball beyond the court.
That unpredictability is part of the attraction.
The London tournament has also provided an important test of whether that excitement can translate into sustained spectator interest in a major market. More than one million people have played padel in Britain in the last year, according to the figures cited by the organisers and governing bodies, while the number of courts has exploded from just 68 in 2019 to more than 1,800.
The next challenge is turning players into fans and fans into spectators. There are encouraging signs.
The final four days in London sold out rapidly, while the tournament has attracted football stars including Alexia Putellas, Riccardo Calafiori and Kepa Arrizabalaga. The event has also given British players an opportunity to compete on the biggest stage, with organisers already discussing how more local talent can be developed.
For South Africa, the parallels are obvious.
Pretoria showed that a major international padel tournament can pull a crowd and create an atmosphere that feels more like a major sporting event than a niche racket competition. The challenge now is to build on that momentum and turn curiosity into a permanent audience.
London’s semi finals could help.
The men’s draw has produced a mouthwatering line up, with the top three seeded partnerships all through to the last four.
World No.1s Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia will be desperate to reach another final after their remarkable run was halted in Pretoria. The Golden Boys made short work of Curro Cabeza and Mariano González in the quarter finals, winning 6 1, 6 2.
Standing between them and another title match are Paquito Navarro and Martín Di Nenno, who had to survive a bruising quarter final against Edu Alonso and Aimar Goñi. Navarro and Di Nenno eventually prevailed 7 5, 6 7, 6 3 after more than two hours.
The other semi final carries even more intrigue for South African viewers. Pretoria champions Alejandro Galán and Federico Chingotto are chasing back to back Premier Padel finals. They were ruthless in London, dismantling Momo González and Lucas Campagnolo 6 0, 6 1 in just 44 minutes.
Now comes a reunion with Juan Lebrón and Leo Augsburger. Lebrón and Augsburger survived a three set battle against Coki Nieto and Jon Sanz, winning 6 3, 2 6, 6 3.
After Pretoria, Galán and Chingotto know exactly what it takes to survive the pressure of a final. The question is whether they can reproduce that level of composure in London.
The women’s draw offers its own repeat of last week’s drama. Young Spaniards Claudia Fernández and Martina Calvo have reached another semi final in only their second tournament together. They beat Icardo and Jensen 6 3, 6 4 and will again face Paula Josemaría and Bea González.
It is an extraordinary start to the partnership. They reached the final in Pretoria last week before eventually losing to the world No.1s, Gemma Triay and Delfina Brea, in a three hour battle that swung violently from one side to the other.
Triay and Brea are again in the semifinals and appear to have carried that momentum into London.
The world No.1s defeated Ariana Araújo and Ortega 7 5, 4 6, 6 1 in the quarter finals and produced their best padel when the match was on the line. They now face Ariana Sánchez and Andrea Ustero, who returned to the semi final stage with a 7 6, 6 4 victory over Caldera and Goenaga.
For Triay and Brea, another final would underline just how formidable this partnership has become.
For South African fans, there is another reason to watch. Pretoria was not an isolated success. It was a glimpse of what Premier Padel could become in this country, and what the sport could become globally.
The players bring the skill. The venues bring the atmosphere. The rallies bring the drama. Now the sport needs to convince audiences around the world that padel is not simply something to play on a Saturday morning. It is something worth buying a ticket to watch.
London, together with the success of Pretoria, may be about to provide the strongest evidence yet.