Young people playing Padel Tennis
| Photo Credit:
ilbusca

Karan Vahi (name changed), a 32-year-old Mumbai-based finance professional, started playing padel six months ago. “I’ve played sports all my life, including tennis, squash, but padel feels easier and enjoyable,” he said. He now plays three times a week, for about two hours each session. “Padel is always played as doubles so it’s a lot more fun socially,” he said.

Globally, the sport has already taken off in countries like Dubai, Spain and Denmark and in India, it’s just getting started.

Padel, a fast-paced racket sport which is a blend between tennis and squash has gained soft momentum in India. Played on a 20m x 10m enclosed court with walls and mesh that are part of the game, padel offers longer rallies and more strategy, note experts. The solid, stringless racquet gives better control, and the ball’s higher bounce makes it more tactical.

The Indian Padel federation (IPF) set up the first court in Bengaluru in 2017 and sees growth ahead. “We foresee that by the end of 2025, we should be touching around 500 courts in India,” said Ronnie Sehgal, General Secretary, Indian Padel Federation .

Celebrities and corporates fuel interest

The celebrity interest has played a key role in driving the sport’s early traction. “This has made a huge impact on investors, on facility owners, corporates willing to put in back the sport with funds, with real estate, with various other things, large events,” Sehgal added.

Stakeholders also note other signs of early adoption which include rising court bookings from players across all age groups, growing demand for coaching and interest from schools, corporations and residential communities even within non metro cities.

Since padel is still new in India, the barriers to entry remain relatively low. “Parents are encouraging kids to try padel, unlike tennis, which already has a half-million-strong player base,” Sehgal said.

The sport is also proving to be more inclusive. According to Sehgal, women now make up nearly 30–40% of all new players.

Mumbai emerges as hub

Sports-tech platform Hudle has around 250 padel courts listed across India which is still a fraction compared to the more mass-market pickleball. However, Mumbai is leading the charge.

“We have more than 100 padel courts in Mumbai they’re booked out for the next three to four months,” said Suhail Narain, CEO, Founder of sportstech platform Hudle. “Its the only place where padel is almost as popular as pickleball,” he added.

Unlike its distant cousin pickleball, padel requires dedicated courts with imported turf and structural walls, making it costlier to set up. But the silver lining is making use of “dead spaces” like mall rooftops or unused commercial terraces which can be converted to set up courts.

According to Narain, padel contributes nearly 20% of Hudle’s sports revenue today, up from zero just 18 months ago.

And the ripple effect is already visible. “Once a metro sees traction, it spills over to Tier-II cities,” Narain explained. Delhi’s uptake has sparked interest in Chandigarh, Lucknow, and Jaipur. Similarly, as Mumbai embraced padel, nearby regions like Lonavala, Alibaug, and even Goa began installing courts.

Building an ecosystem around the game

The key to building a following for the sport is creating an ecosystem around it. For startups like Mumbai-based PadelPark, is creating a full-stack padel ecosystem from setting up courts to coaching and establishing a tournament framework.

“We also work with brand partners for on-ground activations and events. Our long-term goal is to build padel into a community-led sport, which means creating recurring value through coaching, content, retail, and even hospitality tie-ups,” said Nikhil Sachdev, Co-Founder & Head of Marketing, Brand Development, and Strategy at PadelPark India.

While padel involves significantly higher setup costs compared to pickleball, businesses in the space see strong potential for returns. The difference in ROI or payback periods isn’t as wide, given that padel commands higher pricing and premium court rentals.

Published on July 5, 2025