Padel: 'Living the dream as Britain's best player'

Being number one in the UK has its advantages.

“I've met Stormzy a few times,” she says.

“There was a time when he was eating breakfast at the table next to me. It was very surreal.”

Tia, 20, is Britain's top female padel player and plays for an A-list company.

Stormzy plays the song in his downtime, as do David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo.

It is said to be the fastest growing sport in the world, with courts popping up everywhere and huge amounts of money flowing into the game.

Other sports stars such as Virgil van Dijk and Andy Murray have also invested in the sport, with hopes that it could become an Olympic sport by 2032.

“Quite simply, padel is a combination of tennis and squash in the same sport,” explains Tia.

“We always play doubles. It’s about three-quarters the size of a tennis court.

“There's a net in the middle, but there's also walls around it. The ball has to fall to the floor before it touches the wall, and then it has to hit the wall before it bounces back again.”

The sport is played in over 130 countries and some of the world's best players have recently arrived in the UK for international tournaments.

Tia says she has seen first-hand the rapid growth of the sport, not only in terms of awareness but also participation.

“The amount has grown because so many companies have come on board that want to invest in paddle courts. That's the biggest thing that's going to give people access to try out paddle courts and be able to play.”

Tia discovered the sport at the age of 12 and spent most of her teenage years traveling from her home outside Birmingham to London for training.

She also regularly flew to Spain after school on Fridays and was back by Monday morning.

Padel was invented in Mexico in the late 1960s and has been hugely popular in Spain for decades, but its boom has really taken off in the last few years.

This meant Tia traveled to Australia, Egypt, and the United States for major tournaments.

“Being number one in the UK is a huge thing. Most of my friends are at university and every time I talk about what I'm doing they say: 'Tia, you're literally dreaming. You're living.''

Off the court, celebrities have begun posting clips of themselves on TikTok and Instagram Reels.

Tia said Stormzy had been to her gym on several occasions.

“This shows how inclusive it is. People want to play it during their breaks,” she says.

Analysts say the sport's growth is expected to continue and accelerate.

The Pro Tour guru, Premier Padel, has just signed a “transformational” partnership with Red Bull that is thought to be worth tens of millions of pounds.

It can be difficult to find a place to play in the UK. More than 200 courts have been constructed to accommodate approximately 90,000 active players.

Some believe padel could be a gateway to tennis, with experts predicting it will be recognized as an Olympic sport in 2032.

“Maybe I'll join the ranks of people with Olympic rings tattoos,” Tia laughs, but says she won't tell her mother if she gets one.

FIP Rise Rocks Lane will be held in Chiswick, London from March 27th to 30th.