PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — It’s described as a cross between tennis, squash, and racquetball.
“It’s the second biggest sport in Europe after soccer,” said Pascal Collard, owner of the Sarah Vande Berg Tennis & Wellness Center.
“Great workout and a lot of fun. Very social,” said former professional tennis star Jared Palmer.
“It’s an easy sport to play and you can use the glass,” said Collard.
The world’s fastest-growing sport is called padel.
“We usually call it padel in the United States because you guys have so many other paddle sports. Paddle tennis. Pop tennis. Platform tennis and so on, said Marcos Del Pilar, commissioner of the new Pro Padel League.
The league begins to play this weekend, with teams from all over North America coming to the Sarah Vande Berg Tennis Center in Zephyrhills.
And the players will be here five weeks through the championship.
“For the city of Zephyrhills, this is amazing. We are going to have about 100 million viewers. It’s going to put us on the map,” said Collard.
“We were looking for one of the best facilities in the country and we found that at SVB. So we have everything we need here. We have padel, tennis, and cryotherapy. A lot of amenities,” said Del Pilar.
With the popularity of pickleball exploding, people here said padel can do the same in the US.
Former professional tennis stars, like Jared Palmer, are playing.
He won doubles titles at Wimbledon and the Australian Open.
“It’s a really cool venue and everyone is excited, so it’s fun to be part of this,” said Palmer.
The SVB tennis center already has several permanent padel courts to go along with those for tennis and pickleball.
But they are ready to add more as the sport continues to serve up a bigger following.
For more information, visit the Pro Padel League website.
