History of Padel Tennis

Characteristics of Padel Tennis

• Padel tennis is similar to tennis, squash, and racquetball, and is ideal for staying in shape and having fun with friends.
• The field is a 10-meter wide and 20-meter long rectangle with a net in the middle and four walls enclosing the area.
• The central part of the net is 88 centimeters tall, increasing to 92 centimeters at the sides.
• The field is half the size of a tennis court.
• The court has a fence along its entire perimeter, with areas made of materials where the ball can bounce off and metallic areas considered an irregular throw.

Court Structure

• The baseline walls are 4 meters tall, with the initial 3 meters made of opaque or transparent materials and the last meter made of metal.
• There are two types of side walls: a 3-meter tall "step" structure with a 2-meter wide structure on the other side, and a 4-meter high metal net.
• The court may have one or two entrances with or without a door in the central part of the sidewall.

Origin of Padel Tennis

• Padel tennis was invented by American reverend Frank Beal in 1898.
• The first match took place in 1922 in Washington Square Park.
• The United States Padel Tennis Association was inaugurated in 1923.
• The sport gained popularity in Argentina, with 35,000 fields and 4,500,000 players by 1993.
• The first courts in Italy were built in 1991, primarily in Rome.

Rules of Padel Tennis

• The sport is played with a solid flat racquet with holes and a ball with varying pressurization levels.
• The score is calculated like in tennis, with points, games, sets, tie breaks, and benefits.
• The walls at the extremities of the baseline are part of the game area.
• The service is made diagonally, from down to up, and the ball must bounce on the court before being sent back.
• The ball must not directly touch the sides and walls of the adversaries' area or the metallic netting.