As a diehard tennis fan, I am determined not to fall under the spell of the sport’s cool, young baby sister, padel. I am also determined not to succumb to the charms of Michael Gradon: self-described “padel nut” and the man who reportedly persuaded Andy Murray to invest in the sport back in 2019. What is this giant foam ping pong bat he’s handing me? What does he mean, serve underarm? Tim Henman is playing a few hundred metres away — won’t he wince if he sees me running around this silly little court hitting balls at the wall?
But suddenly I am two games into my debut match and I’m grinning like a Cheshire cat. Laughing even, because I’ve just bounced the ball off the glass wall at the back and apparently that counts as an actual point. Damnit. This is exactly what Gradon told me would happen. “People always come off the court with a smile,” he grins, knowingly. Don’t tell me: I’ll be doing a Lionel Messi and Googling how much it costs to install my own padel court next.
