Global sports stars show their love for padel
• 4 minutes read
Fast-paced, exciting and a very social sport – it’s easy to see why padel is the fastest growing sport in the world and why it’s going from strength to strength in Great Britain.
As it continues to gather momentum and more people start to pick up a racket to give padel a go – there are several famous faces from the world of sport and entertainment who have shown their love for padel.
Check out which sporting icons and celebrities have tried their hand at your new favourite sport.
Football goes padel crazy
Padel has quickly become one of the most loved sports amongst England’s top Premier League football teams, with the sport helping provide players with a great way to stay active and foster teamwork.
Manchester City’s manager Pep Guardiola has had padel courts built at the team’s training facilities so he and the players can get on court during training. Meanwhile, former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is also a huge advocate for the sport, with the Premier League and Champions League winner once stating, “Padel is, besides football, the best game I’ve ever played,” and previously worked with Wilson on his own equipment line.
Ex-England captain and Manchester United legend Sir David Beckham, has also spoken about his love for the sport and the many benefits that padel has to offer.
“It’s a sport that I got hooked on very suddenly. I train and have fun at the same time, it’s fantastic,” says one of Britain’s sporting icons.
“You can play at any level, whether you’re a child or an adult. It’s growing a lot, even within the clubs I already know many friends and former teammates who are hooked and that’s incredible.”
But it doesn’t stop there, there’s a whole host of current players who are hooked on the sport. Cristiano Ronaldo has decided to take his relationship with padel one step further by investing in a padel club in Portugal, Lionel Messi is quoted as a keen player, and Zinedine Zidane has opened a padel complex in southern France which features 13 padel courts. Add to the mix Liverpool star Mohammed Salah, Neymar and Lioness legend Jill Scott – among many more – and it’s easy to say the footballing world has gone padel mad.
Hollywood's finest try their hand
Marvel’s very own Tom Holland is the latest celebrity to have dipped their toe in the world of padel, having attended the Pro-Am padel tournament at London’s Padel Social Club back in July 2025.
The Pro-Am event also provided an opportunity for Holland to showcase BERO - the actor’s premium non-alcoholic beer brand he co-founded.
“Padel for me is a social experience - I love padel and it's a great way to burn calories and keep fit."
Meanwhile, Golden Globe-nominated actress Lily James has taken on a new role in the padel world alongside her brother Charlie Thomson. The siblings together founded Connect Padel UK and have committed to 1,000 free court hours per year for children from disadvantaged communities.
Speaking to the Padel Paper, James said, “From the moment I first picked up a padel racket I fell in love with the sport.
“Padel is a sport that brings people together. I believe we are at the forefront of creating welcoming environments for everyone to enjoy and improve their game.”
Hollywood’s Eva Longoria has also said she is “obsessed” with the sport that is slowly picking up momentum in the United States. The American actress says she plays the sport daily when at her home in Marbella, Spain and is the co-owner for the Eleven Eleven Padel team which competes in the Hexagon Cup - an annual World Cup-style tournament that sees the best male, female and next-gen players compete against each other.
When padel met Formula 1
Moving onto the race track and several Formula 1 stars have picked up padel as it offers drivers a chance to refine their fitness, reaction time and reflexes and offers an outlet for them to reduce stress.
2025 World Champion Lando Norris, McLaren teammate Oscar Piastir and Max Verstappen, along with Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Pierre Gasly are a just a few of the sport's familiar faces that regularly compete against each other on the padel court.
McLaren’s leading driver this season, Piastri, spoke about how he plays padel to unwind when not in the driver’s seat, “I like my Padel when I’m on the road on the F1 circuit. It’s easy to just go in and have a hit here and there and it’s a good way of getting fitness in as well for myself.
“It’s a great way of training and adding a bit of fun to the cardio aspect of training.”
Love tennis? Love padel
Heading a little closer to home with another racket sport - professional and ex-professional tennis players are also enjoying picking up a padel racket and heading out on court.
Former world No.1 Andy Murray has invested in the sport over the years - having invested in Game4Padel - an organisation focused on building padel courts across Great Britain - and is the co-owner of Team AD/vantage who have competed at the Hexagon Cup for the last two years in a row.
22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal has also been seen to be enjoying padel and has added padel courts to the world-class Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca. Meanwhile, former world No.1 Serena Williams might have hung up her tennis racket but she’s taken to the padel court to try her hand at the new racket sport gaining momentum Stateside.
