Charles Messow at the Pad, Toronto’s first padel club, located at 309 Cherry Street. Messow founded redPad, Toronto's first for the sport, earlier this year as the sport is gaining popularity in Canada.Justin Robertson/Justin Robertson
One morning in the summer of 2018, Charles Messow left his downtown Miami apartment to run some errands. As he rode the elevator down from the 12th floor of his building, an athletic young man entered carrying an oddly shaped racquet. It was thick, made of fibre-glass with no strings, and its surface was covered with small holes. Messow, a former NCAA Division I tennis player, had no idea what it was.
“It’s a padel racquet,” the man said with a smile. “This is the greatest thing I’ve ever tried in my life.”
The next day, Messow, 52, rented a court at Real Padel Miami and played for hours, sweating through multiple shirts. He started playing five times a week against both casual players and top tier talent, sometimes twice a day. With each session, Messow – who has spent the past couple decades working in the tech sector – became addicted to the sport. And a few years later, he decided to turn his newfound passion into a business.
In June, 2021, Messow founded redPadel – a platform for rating players, and choosing suitable matchups for casual games and tournaments alike. And perhaps appropriately for a sport that is played in pairs, Messow co-founded the company with Coulter Wright, 51, who he’s been playing tennis with since they were 12 years old. The duo founded a club in Miami for the sport shortly after, and this year, they opened the Pad, Toronto’s first padel club. Both grew up in the city, and they think the sport is going to catch on in Canada.
“Padel attracts the person that wants immediate validation,” said Messow. “We’re hard-wired to want to get better and chase a dangling carrot. Tennis is hard for beginners, while Padel is easy to learn but very hard to master. It just has such crazy momentum.”
What is padel?
Some compare padel to pickleball, which exploded in North America over the past three years, and is now played on an estimated 387 courts in Canada. While the shape of the racquet and smaller court size make the two sports seem similar, padel is more dynamic: It’s played within glass walls and uses a regular tennis ball rather than a wiffle ball, forcing players to use glancing touches rather than forceful hits.
Like pickleball, padel is showing great promise in many parts of the world. Founded in a backyard in Mexico in 1969, padel went through its early growth phase in Spanish-speaking countries. Spain, which eventually became the epicentre of the sport, now boasts six million players and the largest number of courts at 15,300, with Italy (6,470) and Sweden (4,200) behind it.
According to the International Padel Federation, more than 25 million people play padel in 90 countries. And it seems other countries will follow, with North America, Asia and the U.K. expected to see a rise in courts and players over the next 10 years. A 2023 report conducted by Deloitte and Playtomic predicts that by 2026 there will be 84,000 courts worldwide and that padel will become a $6-billion industry.
Padel is still a ways off from being a prime-time sport in Canada, but Messow and Wright have a vision: They hope that at least 10 padel clubs will exist in Toronto within the next 10 years.
Messow returns the ball at THE PAD. Padel is often compared to pickleball. While the shape of the racquet and smaller court size make the two sports seem similar, padel is more dynamic: It’s played within glass walls and uses a regular tennis ball rather than a wiffle ball.Justin Robertson/The Globe and Mail
Padel combines the best parts of tennis and squash, and is played in a doubles format. You serve underarm. Shots can be played on a volley or after one bounce, and the ball is still in play after rebounding off a glass wall. Imagine fast and furious close-range net exchanges, combined with soft touches, and neatly executed drop shots off the glass wall.
At any one time, all four players are operating frantically in small quarters. Avid padel players say what makes it so addictive compared with other racquet sports is that rallies can be endless. Even if someone rips the ball past you, the play isn’t dead. You can chase it down, hit the ball off the wall, and keep the game going.
Only up from here
After founding redPadel, Messow and Wright approached the United States Padel Association, which governs the sport down south, and signed an agreement to be the organization’s rating system of choice.
In early 2023, they sold Ultra – their first padel club, located in Miami – and opened the Pad in July. Other co-founders of the Canadian location include Chris Ritchie and Grayson Frazier, and the pop-up club is located in the industrial blocks of Toronto’s Cherry Beach.
Pickleball’s growth in the U.S. was sharp as there’s little heavy lifting needed to set up a court and play. Padel can be played both outdoors and indoors, but it takes more time to build a court, and the challenge for indoor clubs is finding a space with 25-foot ceilings that can accommodate lobs.
“Landlords still don’t know what it is in Toronto. They might see padel as a risky tenant. In Miami that has changed,” said Messow. “It’s going to be a slow build. Not for lack of demand. It’s harder to get space in Toronto. But I just don’t see the difference between here and everywhere else. It’s exploding.”
Messow plays padel at THE PAD. The sport's use of a regular tennis ball, rather than a wiffle ball as is used in pickleball, forces players to use glancing touches rather than forceful hits.Justin Robertson/The Globe and Mail
Messow and Wright aren’t the only ones trying to grow padel in Toronto. Balraj Jutla, the founder of Rally Box, a new Toronto-based padel club still searching for space and yet to open, saw the impact the sport had in Spain and other European countries: It brought communities together and became a part of everyday life for millions. Now, he has a WhatsApp group with 165 players looking for places to play in Toronto.
Jutla says there are padel courts in Ontario you can play on that are not part of a club. There’s one in Woodbridge and one in Sydenham. But there’s a lack of awareness about these courts that have popped up in small towns and places outside the Greater Toronto Area. He’s helping find these courts and connect players to them.
“It’s a global sport. And Toronto being a multicultural city, I knew there were going to be people who were exposed to it or know about it,” he said. “I just want to create another place for people to play.”
More than a sport
Alex Dorbyk, operations and programming manager of Fairgrounds – a Toronto racquet club that offers padel – grew up playing a number of racquet sports, including squash, ping pong and badminton. He found the sport watching padel highlights on YouTube and Instagram, where he discovered 30-shot rallies where players miraculously keep points going. But beyond the intensity of the game, he believes it’s the social connection that sets it apart from other racquet sports.
“When you’re playing on a tennis court, it’s much harder to be social,” he said. “With padel, you’re so close to the net with three other people on the court, and that really makes you want to create banter.”
By the end of this year, Dorbyk has the ambitious goal of building 60 padel and pickleball courts across Canada. With one padel court open at Toronto’s Stackt Market, one opening at Yonge and St. Clair on Sept. 2, and another expected to open soon in Etobicoke, Ont., Dorbyk said he believes curiosity about the sport will begin growing, fuelling further growth.
“When you bring up padel, most people don’t know what it is. So as soon as you start making some awareness for the sport, there will be more funding,” he said.
Last weekend, the Pad played host to its first redPadel tournament, with more than 100 entrants ranging from pro to beginner playing across four divisions in front of 500 spectators. From Friday to Sunday, screams of “yes!” and “come on!” echoed through the empty lots and gravel pits of the transitioning Cherry Beach area. The winning pair of the highest division – Nico Agritelley from Dallas and Luis Estrada from Orlando – won a $5000 prize when they beat Kelly Shannon and Jeff Spiers from Calgary in a hard-fought battle of enduring rallies. They won in straight sets: 6-1 and 6-3.
For the redPadel summer circuit, Toronto was the third stop, after two in Miami and New York. Houston will be the final tournament, beginning Sept. 22. The top pair on the leaderboard win a chance to train with Spain’s Javi Garrido, ranked 15th in the world.
“This is going to be something to build on,” Messow said. “Something really special.”
Getting Started
If tennis and squash had a lovechild, they’d give birth to padel. That’s how some padel enthusiasts describe the sport that’s easy to play, fun and gives you a serious workout. Padel is only just starting to emerge in Toronto, but as with other North American cities such as Miami, Brooklyn and L.A., demand for court time will soon grow. Before you decide whether or not padel is for you, here’s everything you need to know about the sport.
Gear
Footwear: Regular tennis shoes will do. Some popular brands are Nike, Prince T-22 and New Balance.
Racquet: You can buy one from online retailers, or at local padel clubs. The most affordable quality racquet will set you back $150. The most expensive ones start at $500.
Balls: Padel players use a normal non-pressurized tennis ball. Elite players typically use balls made by Wilson, Head, Dunlop and Siux.
Attire: Dry-fit shirts are preferred by most pro players, as they are best at soaking up moisture.
Rules + etiquette
Rules: All games are played by doubles pairs. Both first and second serves are underarm. Scoring is the same as tennis. Walls are part of the game. Check the International Federation of Padel for a complete set of rules.
Etiquette: Make sure that there are no loose balls on the court before beginning play. Players usually stay on their selected side (right or left) during a game, even when their partner is serving from that same side. If the ball touches or grazes you before it bounces, acknowledge it, as that results in a loss of a point. If you touch the net with your racquet before the ball bounces twice on the other side you lose the point, and you should call that even if the other players don’t see it.
Padel banter
Golden Point: When a deuce is the decider point to win the game.
Chiquita: A low shot to an opponent’s feet.
Bandeja: A defensive overhead shot with a slice, meant to stay low and not bounce high off the glass.
Vibora: A hard overhead shot with side spin.
Rulo: An overhead shot with soft top spin.
Top players
To see the full list of ranked Canadians head to redpadel.com.