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.”
Padel tennis continues to grow
The game has been sweeping across Europe and Britain recently and has now reached the north-east.
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.
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.
“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.
“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.
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