The inaugural US Open Padel Championships, held at the Padel Haus Dumbo facility in Brooklyn, New York, has set a significant precedent for padel in the United States. With 160 players from 15 nations competing, the tournament represents a milestone in the sport’s growing popularity across the country. Taking place just weeks after the US Open Tennis tournament in nearby Flushing Meadows, the event secured its place in history. Some are prophesying it will one day be seen as the event that kick-started America’s love affair with padel. Cage 91 reports.
New York: The Bold Move Beyond Miami’s Comfort Zone
From the 4th to 6th October, while Roland Garros’ storied Philippe Chatrier was playing host to the latest stage on Premier Padel’s world tour, there was in fact another padel story playing out. 3,600 miles west of Paris, at New York’s Padel Haus Dumbo, the first ever U.S. Open Padel Championships were being staged. Scratch beneath the surface of the disparity between these two events—the Premier Padel Paris Major’s prize money totaled €525,000, dwarfing the U.S. Open purse of $15,000—and one could argue these events were of equal importance for the sport and its long-term future because, if padel hopes to realize the potential many believe it can, mastering key markets like New York will be absolutely essential.
The decision to move the US Open from the sport’s comfort zone market of Miami to New York—a city in which padel is still barely known—was a brave one taken by the United States Padel Association (USPA), yet it has also proven to be the right one.
The USPA’s decision was a real statement of intent in its plans to make the sport truly national in the United States; and it further highlighted the trust the powers that be have in padel becoming a nationwide sport, far outside the confines of the comfortable, largely Hispanic market of Miami. After all—and like visionary Padel Haus Founder Santiago Gomez did in 2022 with bringing the first padel club to New York—the USPA has gone in at the deep end, successfully bringing this young sport to what is widely considered the world’s most competitive business city, New York. To succeed, as it did this past week with packed galleries and a passionate cult padel following descending in Brooklyn, the USPA and Padel Haus have performed a masterstroke. Although uptake of the sport has been slower in the United States than in other nations, the prestigious U.S. Open name was perhaps the push padel needed to turn the sport from a fringe following to a mainstream racket sport obsession for New York’s future.
Padel Haus Dumbo: The Perfect Venue for a Grand Debut
Much of the event’s success stems from the fact that in Padel Haus Dumbo, the Open took place at a world-class facility run by the visionary entrepreneur Santiago Gomez—the man widely credited with bringing padel to the Big Apple. The beautifully designed four-court facility with its growing community of New York padelistas—drawn from the city’s Spanish-speaking community, racket sport players, and Wall Street bankers—was a fitting host for this most storied of sporting brands. For anyone fortunate enough to witness the tournament at the venue this past weekend, they will have seen it wasn’t lost on the players the significance of playing the first ever U.S. Open at a venue just 10 miles from where the U.S. Open Tennis Championships was once held at West Side Tennis Club in Queens, New York.
Champions Crowned: A Thrilling Conclusion to a Historic Event
The packed galleries and those viewing the spectacle online got to witness three days of padel played at its absolute best. After the fiercely contested opening two days, “Champions Sunday” was set up to be an exhibition from the very best—and that it was. The popular pairing of Brittany Dubins and Carla Rodriguez Sanchez claimed the women’s title, while Juan Manuel “Guga” Vazquez and Jose Carlos Gaspar Campos triumphed in the men’s final, delivering a thrilling conclusion to what was, to all intents and purposes, a truly historic event. The significance of crowning the first-ever US Open champions was felt by everyone in attendance and signified another milestone in padel’s fast-evolving story, something summed up perfectly by the USPA’s President, Martin Sweeney.
“I feel privileged to be part of this padel family on this historic weekend. Padel has an amazing ability to bring people together and bring out the best in us. When the US Open tennis championships was first staged just 10 short miles up the road from Padel Haus over 100 years ago, I’m sure on that day the organizers wouldn’t have expected that their event would grow into one of the great Grand Slams of the modern era. And so, here today, we stand in a similar situation with padel—with a very bright future ahead of us.”
