By the MeetAndPlay editorial team · · 5 min read
Many people think padel is a Spanish or Argentine sport. It is not: padel was invented in Mexico, in Acapulco, in 1969. From there it travelled to Spain and Argentina, where it became a phenomenon, and half a century later it came home as the fastest-growing racket sport in the country. This is its story.
Acapulco, 1969: a court at Las Brisas
Padel was born at the home of Enrique Corcuera, a Mexican businessman, at Las Brisas in Acapulco. Corcuera wanted to play something like tennis on his property, but did not have room for a full court. So he adapted the space he did have: according to the International Padel Federation (FIP), he built a smaller court, 20 by 10 metres, enclosed by 3-metre walls, and put a tennis net across the middle.
The walls were not decoration: they stopped the ball from disappearing into the vegetation and, along the way, became part of the game. A ball that came off the wall was still alive. That idea — an enclosed court where the walls count — is still the essence of padel today.
According to the FIP's official history, the first rules were drafted by his wife, Viviana Corcuera. Over time the original 20 by 10 metre dimensions became the standard for the sport, and they are still the size of every regulation court.
Marbella: the leap to Europe
Among the friends who visited the Corcueras in Acapulco was Prince Alfonso de Hohenlohe, founder of the Marbella Club Hotel in southern Spain. Hohenlohe loved the game and, in the early 1970s, back in Spain, he built the first padel courts at the Marbella Club. Many sources date that trip to 1974.
In its early years in Europe padel was a pastime of the high society that visited Marbella. But it was easy to learn, played in pairs and fitted into small spaces, and little by little it moved out of luxury hotels into clubs and cities.
Argentina: the first boom
Hohenlohe's circle also included Julio Menditeguy, an Argentine tennis enthusiast who took padel to his country. The FIP mentions the first courts at Club Tortugas and the Mar del Plata Ocean Club.
In Argentina padel exploded like nowhere else: courts sprang up across the country, and for years it was one of the most played sports. In 1988 the Asociación Pádel Argentino was founded, the world's first national association, and that same year Mar del Plata hosted the first international match between Spain and Argentina.
The International Federation is born
On 12 July 1991 the associations of Argentina, Spain and Uruguay founded the International Padel Federation (FIP) in Madrid, which has governed the sport ever since. A year later, in 1992, the FIP held the first World Padel Championships, played in Madrid and Seville.
In 1997, in Barcelona, Spain and Argentina unified the rules and agreed on the sport's official name: padel (pádel in Spanish), instead of variants such as "paddle", used in Argentina and easily confused with other games.
The professional tour
Professional padel grew with the sport. For a decade the main circuit was the World Padel Tour, which began in 2013. In 2022 Premier Padel was born, the tour backed by the FIP, which now brings the world's best players together at events on every continent.
The return to Mexico
Although padel was born in Acapulco, for decades it was a niche sport in Mexico. That changed in recent years: hundreds of courts were built, clubs appeared in almost every state, and padel became one of the favourite ways to exercise and socialise in cities such as Monterrey, Guadalajara, Mexico City, Puebla, Mérida and Cancún.
The most symbolic moment came in 2024, when the professional tour returned to the birthplace of the sport. In March Acapulco hosted Premier Padel's GNP Acapulco P1, and from 25 November to 1 December it staged the México Major Premier Padel at the Arena GNP Seguros. According to the Guerrero state government, the Major brought together 407 players, most of them from abroad. Fifty-five years on, the best in the world were playing in the city where Enrique Corcuera put up his walls.
Why padel hooks people
Corcuera's recipe still works for the same reasons it did in 1969:
- It is quick to learn. The serve is underarm and the walls give you a second chance.
- It is played in pairs. It is a social sport: four people, one court and an hour together.
- It fits anywhere. A court takes up far less space than a tennis court.
- It is for all ages. Teenagers, parents and grandparents play together.
Padel is not paddle tennis
One detail causes confusion: in the United States there is a sport called paddle tennis (and another called platform tennis), and neither is padel. They are played on different courts with different rules. Padel is the one with the 20 by 10 metre walled court, the one born in Acapulco.
What comes next
Today padel is played in dozens of countries and the FIP brings together federations from every continent. In Mexico the community keeps growing every month. If you want to be part of it, MeetAndPlay helps you find courts and matches at your level in your city. And if you are just starting, read our guides to the rules and to how to play padel.
Frequently asked questions
- Who invented padel?
- Enrique Corcuera, a Mexican, in 1969, at his home at Las Brisas in Acapulco. The first rules were drafted by his wife, Viviana Corcuera.
- Is padel Spanish or Mexican?
- Mexican. It was born in Acapulco in 1969 and reached Spain in the early 1970s, when Alfonso de Hohenlohe built the first courts at the Marbella Club.
- When was the International Padel Federation founded?
- On 12 July 1991, in Madrid, by the padel associations of Argentina, Spain and Uruguay.