Marbella is arguably the home of Padel, a racket sport that combines elements of tennis, squash and badminton. Ever since Alfonso de Hohenlohe-Langenburg, founder of the Marbella Club, built the first two padel tennis courts after a trip to Mexico back in 1974 the popularity of the sport has continued to grow throughout Spain with now more than 1,000 active clubs and an International Padel Association fostering the growth and development of the sport on a worldwide scale.
This year, the officially recognised Cervezas Victoria Marbella Masters Tournament returns to the coast to kick off the 2020 World Padel Tour Season at the ‘Palacio de los Deportes’ in San Pedro Alcántara from March 2 to the 8. After its astonishing success in 2019 with almost 20,000 live viewers, it is seeking to ‘destroy’ those figures due to the tremendous progression of the sport.
If you are a die-hard padel fan or just beginning to explore the world of the sport, this tournament is a mandatory watch. First of all, it will be the beginning of the eighth World Padel Tour season, a successful tournament that has been taking professional padel across the globe since 2013. This year is set to be the most competitive, close and exciting line up in the history of the sport. More number ones and champions than ever before will be going head to head in intense battles for gold. Secondly, we are going to see new matchups as there has been a shuffling across both male and female couples, bringing never seen before talented dynamics to the championship.
Juan Lebrón, Paquito Navarro, Marta Marrero and Paula Josemaría are just a handful of names I would keep an eye on. Thirdly, we will witness the introduction of a new scoring system. Rightfully named the ‘Gold Point’ it will be used in the eventuality that an equal score is reached, and an extra point will be played to settle the match. Finally, it will be a much-awaited reunion for the region that played a key role in pioneering the growth of the sport—the Costa del Sol!
The region has a passionate fanbase capable of making any padel event a unique spectacle. so you can expect that the atmosphere in the San Pedro `Palacio de Deportes’ is guaranteed to be electric, full of passion and excitement.