Padel: A boom reaches Austria

Padel is the fastest growing sport in the world. Interest in the mixed form of tennis and squash is also increasing in Austria. But how big is the potential really?

Do you know Juan Lebron Chincoa? No? Well, after all, the 27-year-old Spaniard has 335,000 followers on Instagram, including celebrities such as Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem. Videos of some of his most spectacular rallies have been viewed millions of times on YouTube. Lebrón, as he is simply called, forms the best padel duo in the world together with his compatriot Alejandro Galán – and is a real superstar in his homeland. Of course, he will not achieve this status in Austria, but Lebrón’s level of awareness should also increase considerably in this country in the coming years – provided padel continues to grow exponentially.

There are currently 98 courts and 8000 active padel players in Austria. New players are added almost every week, and facilities “are currently sprouting up like mushrooms,” says Herwig Straka, who, in the midst of the corona pandemic, recognized the signs of the times and under the Padelzone brand owns courts, for example in St. Marx and on the Donauinsel, sells. Straka, known to many as the tennis organizer and tournament director of the Erste Bank Open in the Wiener Stadthalle, sees “enormous potential” in the still young sport, which is a hybrid of tennis and squash, but is much easier to learn in its basic features .