The story
From an Acapulco backyard to sold-out arenas
Padel is barely older than the moon landings, yet in a single lifetime it has gone from one man's backyard experiment to packed arenas on four continents. Here's how a walled-in court in Mexico became the world's fastest-growing sport.
At the very top right now
Biggest climbers this week
Ranking through 2026-08-25 · See the full ranking
Why padel took off
Padel's rise isn't an accident — the reasons are baked into how it plays.
An underarm serve, a compact court and walls that keep the ball alive mean beginners are rallying within minutes.
It's doubles by nature — social and shared, rewarding positioning and teamwork over raw power.
Glass courts slot onto rooftops, warehouses and car parks, so new clubs appear where space is tight.
Long rallies, wall rebounds and net duels make it gripping to watch — which is why broadcasters and sponsors moved in.
The basics
What is Padel?
It's doubles — two against two — on a court smaller than tennis, wrapped in glass walls. The ball can bounce off the walls and stay in play, so rallies last longer and it's easy to pick up.
- · vs tennis: smaller court, underarm serve, walls in play, doubles-first
- · vs squash: outdoor-friendly, net in the middle, ball can leave the cage
A Padel court is a 10 × 20 m rectangle enclosed by glass and mesh: 10 m-wide back walls of glass, stepped side walls, and a net across the middle. Service boxes sit on each side, and the surface is usually blue, green or sand-coloured artificial turf.
Scoring, quickly
The star point
Scoring is tennis-style: 15, 30, 40, game; six games win a set (tie-break at 6–6); matches are best of three sets. Since 2026 the professional circuits use the 'Star Point' system at 40–40 ('deuce'): up to two classic advantages are played, and if the game still isn't settled, one single deciding rally — the Star Point — wins it. It replaced the previous sudden-death golden point as a hybrid between tradition and spectacle, and applies across Premier Padel, the CUPRA FIP Tour, FIP Promises and FIP Beyond.
6–6The tie-break
If a set reaches 6–6 in games, a tie-break decides it: the pair races to 7 points and must win by two (so 8–6, 9–7, and so on if it stays close). Serve switches every two points. Win it and you take the set 7–6.
Core rules
- The serve is underarm: the ball is bounced and struck at or below waist height, diagonally into the opposite service box.
- The ball may bounce off your own back or side walls after bouncing on your side — play continues.
- A ball that hits a wall on the opponent's side BEFORE bouncing on the ground is out.
- The ball may only bounce once on the ground on each side; hitting the wire mesh directly is a fault on the serve and out in a rally.
Common shots you'll hear
A gentle overhead "tray" shot that keeps you controlling the net.
A sharper, spinnier cousin of the bandeja that skids low off the glass.
Hitting the ball down after it rebounds up off your own back wall.
A soft, low shot that drops at the opponents' feet to calm the rally down.
The pro circuit
The pro circuit
The top professional circuit is Qatar Airways Premier Padel, run with the International Padel Federation (FIP): four Majors (2,000 points to the winner), P1s (1,000) and P2s (600), plus the season-ending Tour Finals (1,500). Beneath it, the CUPRA FIP Tour (Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and the FIP Finals) is the development tier where points also count toward the same FIP world ranking. A separate circuit, A1 Padel, runs its own ranking and is not covered here.
Words you'll hear
"Major" & "P1"
The biggest tournaments on the calendar. A Major is the grandest — 2,000 ranking points to the winners; a P1 is the next tier at 1,000. Win those and you climb fast.
Points they must defend soon
Ranking points only count for one year, so a player is always defending what the same tournaments gave them last season — as those points quietly expire, the rank slips unless they're won back. This is the heart of the Race to #1.
The ranking
How the ranking works
The FIP world ranking is the sum of a player's best 22 results from the last 52 weeks across Premier Padel and the CUPRA FIP Tour. Points expire exactly 52 weeks after they were earned — except Major and Tour Finals points, which are defended in the week of that event's next edition. The season 'Race' is the same best-22 arithmetic restricted to the current season. Points are earned individually, so partners' totals can differ.
Official points by tier and round (season 2026)
| Tier | W | F | 3RD | 4TH | SF | QF | R16 | R32 | R64 | BQ | LQ | Q2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major | 2000 | 1200 | 720 | 360 | 180 | 90 | 35 | 15 | 30 | 15 | ||
| Tour Finals | 1500 | 900 | 600 | 400 | 270 | |||||||
| P1 | 1000 | 600 | 360 | 180 | 90 | 45 | 22 | 10 | 18 | |||
| P2 | 600 | 360 | 180 | 90 | 45 | 22 | 5 | 15 | 7 | |||
| FIP Platinum | 300 | 180 | 90 | 50 | 25 | 14 | 3 | 9 | 5 | |||
| FIP Finals | 225 | 135 | 70 | 40 | 20 | |||||||
| FIP Gold | 150 | 90 | 50 | 25 | 14 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 3 | |||
| FIP Silver | 80 | 45 | 25 | 14 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | |||
| FIP Bronze | 40 | 22 | 14 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
Rendered directly from the versioned ruleset file used by the simulator, verified against padelfip.com on 2026-07-11.