Five things in the first Italy Major Premier Padel event’s legacy

The week in Rome has changed Padel at its core, probably forever, at least in Italy. No one is able to underestimate this sports and social phenomenon - which has few precedents in the world in terms of speed of change in popularity - any longer.

THE PUBLIC’S EMBRACE

Over 22,500 spectators in total filled the Foro Italico during the first edition of the Italy Major Premier Padel tournament. An extraordinary figure especially considering the short presale time window. Rome has long shown its love for Padel, so it’s not that much of a surprise. But it's one thing to play, and another to watch the champions. The question of how much crowd the Padel stars could draw in has now got an answer: they attract a large one, just like the world’s stars of any other discipline.

Which one is the most loved? Certainly Fernando Belasteguin, a true Padel icon because of his many years at the top. But the others too received their fair share of cheering and standing ovations. Which one is the day to remember? Surely the semifinals, two very high profile matches and the kind of spectator involvement that had been missing from Roman events for some time. It was a party more than a tournament, in which players and spectators seemed more united than ever in the joy of embarking on a new adventure.

THE CHARISMA OF THE TOP PLAYERS

Fernando Belasteguin speaks in a firm tone and with calm confidence, one that never reveals arrogance. Ale Galan is the personification of kindness, the kind that puts you at ease even if you don't know all the secrets of Padel and you need a Padel theory lesson directly from the no. 1. Juan Lebron, the other leader, is the volcano, closely followed by Paquito Navarro. Twenty year-old Arturo Coello is seemingly shy, yet he turns into a real fighter on court.

All of them, like others who have taken turns playing on the Foro Italico courts, share a certain charisma in common, a special trait considering that none of them are at all accustomed to popularity, at least outside Spain and their niche fandom. On the whole, they are the perfect ambassadors for a sport that is only beginning to grow now in terms of fame and needs to open up to the world first and foremost, especially through its brightest stars.

THE SEMIFINAL CORRIDA

Someone, perhaps a tennis fan who had converted to Padel, will have been surprised by what happened in the hottest moment of the Saturday night semifinal with Belasteguin/Coello on one side of the court and Galan/Lebron on the other. Juan Lebron got mixed up in an unpleasant incident: he was insulted by a rude spectator, so the Andalusian player went up to the umpire and said in no uncertain terms that from that moment on it was going to have to be either the spectator or himself.

Security did their duty, escorting the person to the exit, but then Lebron got quite a lot of boos for the theatrical way in which he showed his displeasure. In reality, the match was very much like a show throughout, in which each of the players played a role somehow and so did the people in the stands, quite a central one at that, in fact. Those who came out to the Grandstand Arena on Saturday night will certainly be back to see other Padel tournaments in Rome, Italy and elsewhere in the world. Right there is the Italy Major’s most important victory.

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