Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

WATCH: Padel tennis players showcase sport as Aberdeen’s first indoor court opens

The court will help meet demand as the sport continues to sweep across Europe.

The first indoor padel tennis court has opened in Aberdeen.

Local family business Strikers on Broadfold Road in Bridge of Don has spent a “near six-figure sum” on building the new court.

The independent sports provider, who has been in the business for 20 years, is pleased to have the court as the only indoor facility in the north-east.

In the past, it had previously just operated as an indoor football venue but now hopes to help meet the demand of the growing number of padel players.

Graeme Smith, director and owner of Strikers said: “We have seen the growth of this sport and we were looking to add something to our facility.

“We went to a facility in Edinburgh and thought it would be a great opportunity to bring the sport to the north-east.”

The new facility almost cost six figures. Image: Scott Baxter / DC Thomson.

Padel tennis continues to grow

The game has been sweeping across Europe and Britain recently and has now reached the north-east.

Last month, Sport Aberdeen revealed plans to serve up new outdoor courts next to the grass courts just off Cornhill Road.

In Scotland, there are currently only courts in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee.

To demonstrate the new Aberdeen courts, padel players Will James and Jim Leith came along to the court to showcase how it’s done.

Will James and Jim Leith on the court before showing-off their skills. Image: Scott Baxter/ DC Thomson.

Mr Leith had previously played in Spain and Mr James used to play in Australia.

What is padel tennis?

A game of padel looks roughly like a mixture between tennis and squash.

Padel is played in a glass-enclosed court roughly one-third of the size of a tennis court (32ft x 65ft) and with similar rules.

Players play in teams of two and serve underhand in the glass-bordered court.

It uses the same scoring and net as tennis but with smaller rackets, while incorporating some aspects of squash such as returning off the back and side walls.

Padel was invented by Enrique Corcuera in 1969 when he decided to adapt his squash court at his home in Mexico.

Padel ‘more accessible’ than tennis

But despite the small differences with tennis, owner Mr Smith believes they help make padel a more accessible sport.

“Since you serve underarm in padel it makes it much easier to return a serve than in tennis”, he said.

Players were already lining up to play on the brand-new courts. Image: Scott Baxter/ DC Thomson.

“Anyone who has played tennis against someone better than them knows how difficult it is to return a serve.

“And due to the fact the ball hits off the wall behind you makes it a much more flowing and continuous game.”

How popular could padel tennis become in Scotland?

Padel has already become popular with several big sporting names including Lionel Messi, David Beckham, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams.

Former Wimbledon and US Open champion, Sir Andy Murray invested an undisclosed amount in the company Game4Padel in 2019.

According to the Lawn Tennis Association, there are now 250 courts in Britain, with ambitions for 400 by the end of the year.

Now Mr Smith hopes to build on the growing global popularity of the sport to create a padel community in the north-east.

The new courts are based at Strikers in Bridge of Don. Image: Scott Baxter/ DC Thomson.

“I think the social aspect is important since padel is usually played in doubles, not singles like tennis.

“We have a big football community group and we hope the same thing will be possible with padel.”

Players keen to have a go on the new padel court can book on the Strikers indoor padel website or they can learn more on the Facebook page.

Conversation