1st U.S. Padel League Championship Opens In Zephyrhills This Weekend

ZEPHYRHILLS, FL — The Pro Padel League, North America's first professional padel league, will host top stars when the ATP Tour comes to the Sarah Vande Berg Tennis & Wellness Center in Zephyhills for four weekends.

Headlining opening weekend of the first PPL season will be Juan Martin del Potro (2009 U.S. Open Champion), Tommy Haas (former ATP Tour No. 2 singles player), Jared Palmer (former ATP No. 1 doubles player) and MLS MVP Sebastian Giovonco.

Starting Saturday, the regular season will take place over four weekends at the Sarah Vande Berg tennis center, 6585 Simmons Road. With seven teams in competition, the season will conclude with the championship weekend taking place June 10-11, where there will be a semifinal round followed by the two best teams competing in the finals for the PPL CUP.

Teams will be composed of four active players including two men and two women, and four alternates, and will follow the international scoring format.

Attracting padel fans from around the world for the first weekend of competition, 84 of the world's top padel players will compete in the PPL's inaugural season.

The PPL's first player draft was held on March 20, and received about 500 applications from top North American and international players from Australia, Asia, South America, the United Kingdom and Europe.

For its historic inaugural season, the PPL will be aired weekly in over 100 million households with broadcast partners on 40 networks including BeIN Sports, AT&T Sportsnet, MASN, SWX Sports and Spectrum. Internationally, the season will be aired on select networks such as CaribVision, BeIN Sports en Espanol and Game+ Network in Canada with matches live-streamed on the PPL's YouTube Channel.

Originating in Mexico, the high-octane sport has become one of the fastest-growing sports in the world, gaining increasing popularity in Mexico and Europe and, most recently, the U.S. and Canada.

Currently, padel has over 25 million players worldwide and is growing in popularity in the U.S. with the number of padel courts set to double in 2023.

More than eight million players are projected to be playing in the U.S. by 2030.

The PPL will enable players, coaches, team owners, facility owners, broadcasters, fans, sponsors and brands to be involved in and capitalize on, the sport's explosive growth.

For free general admission tickets to the tournament, click here.