Padel opinion: How padel took over the sporting world in 2025
Women’s Euros. The Ryder Cup. The Club World Cup. 2025 was a huge year for sport, but the one that stole the most headlines was padel.
More courts were built than ever before, the push for female padel players accelerated and professional competitions enjoyed well-deserved commercial success.
Here, Sports News Blitz’s writer Vanely Barumire looks at the biggest winners from the 2025 Padel season.
A season to remember
The professional season was filled with shifting partnerships, intense competition and final-day deciders.
However, Agustín Tapia and Arturo Coello’s domination was predictable, almost inevitable. The duo won 12 titles, taking home three of the four Major trophies. They were unstoppable.
Coello’s command of the net, coupled with Tapia’s ability to create magic from the back of the court, proved lethal for their rivals.
The pair ended the season with a thrilling three-set showdown against Federico Chingotto and Alejandro Galán. Victory at the Premier Padel Finals in Barcelona sealed their 13th trophy from 23 tournaments.
Looking ahead to the off-season, Tapia and Coello are unlikely to separate. Their partnership already feels historic and could yet go down as one of the sport’s greatest.
On the women’s side, the number one ranking was shared between two outstanding pairings. Gemma Triay and Delfina Brea managed to take the top spot from Ariana Sánchez and Paula Josemaría during the season.
Going into the final stop on the tour, all four players were still in contention. In the end, Triay and Brea finished the year as the top-ranked female players in padel.
Third seeds Bea González and Claudia Fernández, however, were arguably the most exciting pairing of the 2025 season.
Closing the year with the biggest title of her career, González won the Premier Padel Finals in Barcelona alongside her teenage partner Fernández. In a dramatic three-set final, the pair defeated the world number ones.
The win sealed González’s sixth title of the season and brought well-deserved attention to Fernández. Together, they may well have been the biggest winners of the 2025 padel tour.
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More money, more courts
The 2025 season was also a major win for grassroots padel.
According to Playtomic’s Global Padel Report 2025, padel clubs grew by 22 per cent globally in 2024 and are expected to expand even faster in 2026.
More than 7,000 padel courts were built in 2024, with projections suggesting the total could rise to 81,000 by 2027.
“With a new court opening every two and a half hours worldwide, padel has finally joined the top table of the world’s sporting elite,” said Playtomic co-founder and chief commercial officer Pablo Carro.
While still trailing established racket sports such as tennis, padel is now played in over 90 countries. 2025 marked a pivotal year in its global rise.
The year was also described as crucial for padel’s push to be included in the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games.
If growth continues at the same pace, a place on the world’s biggest sporting stage may only be a matter of time.
A cultural phenomenon
BERO Padel competitions, David Beckham and TikTok all played their part in pushing padel into the cultural mainstream in 2025.
The sport became a lifestyle. Social media feeds filled with first-time players and celebrities showcasing their love for the game.
This organic exposure acted as powerful marketing, driving recreational participation worldwide. An estimated 30 million people played padel globally, with numbers expected to keep rising.
Padel now feels inescapable and that looks unlikely to change any time soon.
What will 2026 look like?
Professionally and recreationally, 2025 was a standout year for padel.
Commercial partnerships grew, with brands such as Heineken and Red Bull investing in the sport, while grassroots funding reached record levels.
The challenge for 2026 will be capitalising on that momentum, with Olympic inclusion remaining the long-term goal.
Whatever the next year holds, padel looks set to grow even bigger and better than it did in 2025 and that is certainly exciting.
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