London Premier Padel Experience

Premier Padel came to London for the first time this year, and from what I’ve heard they’re locked in to keep coming back for the next 10 years. It was a great event, and I wanted to write up my experience.

Some context on the tour

Padel’s tour works a bit like tennis or Formula One, travelling around the world with a few different tiers of events. There are P2s, then P1s (bigger points and bigger prize money), and then the four majors, which this year were in Riyadh, Doha, Rome and Paris, with the Barcelona Finals as the season-ending event where the top players face off at the end of the year. So a P1 is a genuinely big deal, and London got one.

The venue was Kensington Olympia, and I was a bit sceptical when I first heard that. I thought London needed something bigger for an event like this. But once I saw how it was actually organised, I was properly happy with it. Perfect size, really pretty, and in a lovely part of London.

I got tickets for Wednesday and Saturday.

Wednesday: the quieter day with all the seeds

I could only get there by lunchtime on Wednesday, and by the time I arrived Tapia and Coello were already playing their round of 32 match. It was a great day to go. There weren’t too many people around, fairly busy but not packed, and because everyone had an assigned seat on the central court, that court was never more than about 20% full at any one time, with people wandering around freely instead.

Wednesday was also the first day the main seeds came into the tournament, so it was the first match for Tapia and Coello, and the same for Galán and Chingotto. All four top seeds were on the central court, so we got to watch a bit of every game.

The biggest upset of the day was Franco Stupaczuk losing his first match, alongside Mike Yanguas, despite winning the opening set on a tiebreak. The pair has now broken up as well, so we got to see their last match together (for now).

There were also three smaller courts to the side, courts two, three and four. The level wasn’t quite as high as the central court, but it was close, and you got to be right up next to the players, just a couple of metres away in some cases. That was insane to watch.

One of the best games we saw was Javi Leal and his partner Fran Guerrero, the pair who’d made the final in Pretoria the week before, losing their first match against two really young lads, one Spanish and one Paraguayan (Curro Cabeza and Mariano González). It was great watching it from the first row on a small court, and I remember Coello coming over to watch the second set of that one too.

The fan zone stuff

The bigger padel brands were all there: Nox, Head, Bullpadel, Babolat, Adidas. There was a Joma stand and a Decathlon stand too, and they all had different games set up, which was a nice touch. Oysho seemed to be the main clothing sponsor, and they had a really good range of gear, including a padel t-shirt made specifically for the London tournament.

There were also a few reaction games dotted around. One was a speedometer to see how fast your shot was. My favourite was a mini padel court, which was so busy you had to book a slot first thing in the morning to play it later in the day. I managed to play it both Wednesday and Saturday, which was great. There was food available too, but it was all pretty expensive.

Saturday: semi-final day

Saturday was a completely different beast. The smaller courts were shut, so all the action was on the central court, and it kicked off at 12 for the semi-finals.

The women’s matches were insane. Between the two semi-finals, they lasted about six hours in total with all the breaks. Then Tapia and Coello played Di Nenno and Navarro, and won in under an hour, which was a bit of a shame because they were playing really well and we only got to watch them for that long.

The last match was Lebrón and Augsburger against Galán and Chingotto, and it was brilliant. The first set was really good too, with a lot of drama, Lebrón was complaining loads about the referee’s decisions, and then in the second set Lebrón and Augsburger went 3-0 up before losing it 6-3, which was a great comeback to watch.

Overall Saturday’s level was much higher than Wednesday. On Wednesday it felt like Galán, Chingotto, Coello and Tapia weren’t really tested, but on Saturday we saw what they’re actually made of, going for it at full strength.

Would I go again

Definitely. It was great, there were loads of people there, everyone seemed genuinely enthusiastic and passionate about the sport, and it was even on TV. I really hope they bring it back in a similar format.

A few tips if you’re going next year

They do search bags on the way in, but it’s not that thorough, so bring your own food if you can. If you don’t, you can always leave and come back in, and there are some nice, cheap fast food places just outside that are better value than anything inside.
It’s a long day and the seats aren’t that comfortable, so make sure you get up and stretch your legs every so often.
Bring water and snacks. They said on Instagram it wouldn’t get too hot inside because of the AC, but it actually got pretty warm. To be fair, it’s been an unusually hot summer, so that might not be the case every year.
Skip Tuesday if you can, most of the good players aren’t in action yet. Wednesday is great for the men’s draw, but the top women aren’t playing yet either. Thursday is probably the best balance of small crowds and strong matches, and it’s much easier to get near the players for a photo or an autograph.
If you want the highest quality padel, go Saturday. You don’t need to take time off work, and you get to see four matches, which is more than enough. It starts at 12 and finishes around 8 or 9, so you’re looking at six or seven hours of padel. The only downsides are that there’s no action on the smaller courts, only one match at a time, and the crowds are bigger. That said, the bigger crowd does make the atmosphere on the central court properly good, especially once it gets going.