Atlanta hosts U.S. Open Padel Championships on new Midtown courts
A fast-growing racquet sport is making its way to Atlanta.
This weekend, the city will host the U.S. Open Padel Championships at the new Padel Haus Atlanta in Midtown.
Padel, a sport invented in Mexico in 1969, combines elements of tennis and squash and is played on a smaller court with walls that players can use to bounce the ball over the net.
Unlike other racquet sports, Santiago Gomez, founder of Padel Haus, compares the strategy of padel to chess.
"It's easy to learn, hard to master," Gomez said. "A lot of new players, tennis, squash, pickleball players that try it for the first time, what we always say is the conversion is typically one way. You play the sport once and you convert, and you never want to go back and play other racquet sports."
The U.S. Open Padel Championships at Padel Haus will award a record $35,000 in prize money, reflecting the sport's growing popularity in the United States. Gomez says Atlanta is quickly becoming a hub for padel enthusiasts.
For those new to the sport, padel offers a fun, social, and competitive experience that Gomez believes will keep players coming back.