But what is it that is biting the former world number 1 tennis players that makes everyone (or almost everyone) love padel?

The latest to have been photographed on the palate is the Australian Leyton Hewitt, soon to be 42, who dominated the hierarchy of world tennis in 2001 and 2002. In passing, he won two tournaments in the Grand Chelem, the US Open and Wimbledon, before giving up his throne to Andy Roddick and then to Roger Federer.

Retired from tennis since 2016, he is now trying his hand at padel, even if the grumpy souls will have noticed that he has not yet gotten used to wearing the strap, as shown in the photo below.

Comfortable in doubles, Hewitt won the US Open in 2000 with Max Mirnyi and was a finalist the same year at Wimbledon alongside Belgian Kim Clijsters, who was his partner. It is therefore not surprising to see this combative and fast player, an excellent volleyball player, playing padel on the right side of the court.

Murray, Nadal, Wawrinka...

Some of his fans on Instagram are urging him to “bring padel back to Australia”, where a first Australian Open Padel was announced from January 26 to 29, 2023. From there to seeing Hewitt associate his image with padel, or even invest in it to also benefit from the spectacular growth of this sport, there is only one step.

A step that two other former tennis No. 1s have already taken, Andy Murray (with Game4Padel) and of course Rafael Nadal in his academy of Manacor, in the Balearic Islands. We could also mention the name of Stan Wawrinka (n°1 despite three titles in Grand Chelem), which acquired the rights for organize an APT tournament in Switzerland in 2023.

Perhaps Wawrinka will encourage his friend Roger Federer either to invest in the development of padel or even to convert to it as a player. A reconversion that the entire padel planet is calling for, because it would allow this sport to enter a new dimension, both media and financial. In any case, the recent Images of Federer on a padel court in Dubai made a great noise.

On the Swiss side, we could also mention Martina hingis, which has just associated its image with Cupra, the car brand that is betting big on padel. Still on the ladies side, Serena Williams also started playing padel at the academy of her former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou. Not to mention Novak Djokovic, who has already tried his hand at the racket for several years and could also – as a savvy businessman – see it as an opportunity once he has put away his tennis rackets.

Padel, an excellent “substitute product”

Beyond the financial aspects, it is not surprising to see former tennis players having fun on the padel courts. A top athlete, whoever they are, needs to maintain physical activity when they retire from sports. Or even – for these sports addicts – to find an excellent “substitute product” that allows them to wean themselves more easily from the adrenaline resulting from the effort.

Continuing to play the same sport can become frustrating, as it is accompanied by an inevitable regression. On the other hand, for a tennis player, taking a step back towards a sport as fun and addictive as padel allows you to find room for improvement and a source of motivation.

And when the pleasure of sport joins the economic reconversion, the benefit is double!

After 40 years of tennis, Jérôme fell into the padel pot in 2018. Since then, he thinks about it every morning while shaving… but never shaves with a pala in hand! A journalist in Alsace, his only ambition is to share his passion with you, whether you speak French, Italian, Spanish or English.

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