Origins in Mexico
Enrique Corquera invented padel in 1969 at his vacation home in Acapulco by adjusting the size and the appearance of the tennis court to the field that was available to him.
Expansion to Spain
Corquero’s friend, a Spanish nobleman and businessman, Alfonso de Hohenlohe-Langenburg, soon popularised padel in Spain. That’s how even the Spanish king Juan Carlos became a promoter of this sport.
Coming to Argentina
A year after the debut in Spain, padel came to Argentina. This happened thanks to Langenburg's friend, an Argentinian millionaire, Julio Menditeguy.
Expansion Throughout Argentina
In 1982 the number of padel courts in Argentina started rapidly growing. New clubs were established in Buenos Aires and many other cities, and the sport expanded to neighbouring countries.
Argentine Padel Association
The Argentine Padel Association was founded in 1988 at the initiative of Oscar Nicastro. In the same year, the First Padel Championship in the world took place in the city of Mar del Plata.
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace is a mobile padel court made of glass. It enabled easier television broadcasting of padel matches, the increase in TV spectators, and the further popularisation of the sport.
International Padel Federation
In 1991 the International Padel Federation was established at a meeting between the representatives from the Argentinian, Spanish, and Uruguayan national federations.
The First Padel Cup
The First Padel Cup took place in Spain, and an Argentinian couple won. Since then, the World Cup takes place every other year, and it’s famous under the name the World Padel Championship.
The United States Padel Association
Padel arrived in the US in 1993 through the foundation of the US Padel Association in the state of Tennessee. Two years later, the American Padel Association was formed in Texas.
Popularisation in Sweden
In the late 20th century, the first padel court in Sweden was built. Almost a quarter of a century later, padel is one of the most popular sports in this country.
Expansion into Finland
Soon after Sweden, padel arrived in the neighbouring countries, and it was first adopted in Finland.
Padel Pro Tour
At the start of the new millennium, Spain became the centre of the padel world. This is why many Argentinian players moved to this European country where in 2005 Pro Padel Tour was established.
Padel Comes to Denmark
Although not officially acknowledged as the first padel court in Denmark, the court in the town of Fredericia that was built in 2007 is considered to be the pioneer padel project in this country.
World Padel Tour
Padel Pro Tour was held until 2012 when it was replaced by the World Padel Tour, and the top 100 players took part in this edition of the tournament.
Padel in Belgrade
Over the last decade, the popularity of padel has been growing unstoppably. This sport is on its way to becoming the second most popular sport in the world in terms of the number of players. Our team wanted Serbia to keep up, as always, with international sport developments. So in 2019, we opened Vamos Padel, whose courts play host to an increasing number of domestic recreational players.