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USA PADEL PRO - Premier Padel

314 commentsu/MidwestRacquetSports4w ago

The US has the PPL (Pro Padel League) bringing over monsters like Tapia, Coello, Chingotto and a bunch of the world’s elite talent… but when do we realistically see an American-born player crack the Top 25 in the world? Feels like the sport is exploding here faster than ever, but the gap between the US and Spain/Argentina is still massive - especially with how early those guys start and how deep the competition is overseas. Do you think we’re still 10–15 years away from seeing a true American contender at the highest level? Or is there a young US player right now that people in the scene believe could eventually make that jump in the next 5–10 years? Curious what people think: * Is the talent pipeline finally developing in the US? * Will college tennis athletes transition into padel at a high enough level? * Does the PPL actually help create American stars, or is it mostly just growing the audience? * And who are the top US prospects everyone should already know about? Would love to hear from people closer to the junior / academy scene too.

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Comments (14)

u/augenvogel4w ago

As long as two hours of play in mediocre courts in New York cost like 200 bucks, no way that the access will be spread and bring up talents like in Spain or Argentina where courts costs like 9 bucks for the whole court.

u/jenwhite19744w ago

This is the answer

u/jaimedejota4w ago

Born American? 25 years at the very very least

u/GlapLaw4w ago

The junior scene in the US is developing quickly. It’ll be sooner.

-8

u/jaimedejota4w ago

There's absolutely no way unless they move to Spain as kids..

u/GGBeavis4w ago

No way. No offense, but padel is huge in Portugal, Italy, Sweden, Belgium, etc and yet there’s barely any top players from there. There’s very very little chance the USA produces a top talent within the next decade or two.

u/zemvpferreira4w ago

Many questions, one answer: no. More constructively, Pratto argues that local talent is irrelevant, what matters is great coaching. Any country that invests in a world-class coach can develop professional players in 7 years. Is there such a coach in the US? Then they're at least 7 years away.

u/seekinghelp144614w ago

I also think that the answer is no, but if we follow your argument, couldn’t the US pay world class coaches a lot of money and get them to move to the US and that would solve the problem?

u/zemvpferreira4w ago

Of course. Until then, no chance.

u/adsason4w ago

Here in Miami I’ve yet to see one true american player be anywhere close to the top level. All the trainers and pros are from overseas. Some guys have citizenship and can play for the US, but the reality is they were born elsewhere. I’d argue Miami is the epicenter of the padel movement, so I think it’s at least a generation or two away. Need the kids that are just starting lessons and their padel adventure to grow up.

u/dmackerman4w ago

I think it will be at least a decade, maybe more. Padel in the US is still in its infancy. There are barely any facilities, there are absolutely zero "public" or low cost facilities, there are not a lot of coaches who would even consider being at the Pro level. Pickleball dominates the US market for a lot of different reasons. I see change happening, but it will be slow.

u/Aquarius19754w ago

Only chance is some very talented US born kid is sent off to Spain or Argentina to train. So many countries are WAY ahead of the US, while still being FAR behind Spain and Argentina. I haven't counted lately but I believe like 90% of the top 100 players are from Spain or Argentina, including almost every true top player.

u/TacticalStf4w ago

It will take at least 10 years, if you have a good coach. The absolute top players have been playing since they were kids, and have had constant coaching since then. Also Spain and Argentina have coaches with experience, who have been playing and coaching for decades. Since the sport is relatively new in other parts of the world. They would need to have a Spanish/argentinian coach, to teach their young players and develop them. If you have tennis experience, the development could go a bit faster. In my country, padel boomed 5 years ago, and the best padel players now were playing tennis before we had padel.