He’s a telegenic Spaniard in his early 20s. Gripping a customized implement, blasting a tennis ball over a net and into hard-to-reach pockets, covering the court like a tarp, he’s achieved his sport’s No. 1 ranking. He’s winning at a torrential clip and, about to enter his meaty prime years, showing no signs of slowing.
While the above could apply to Carlos Alcaraz, the leading light in the current cast of men’s tennis, today’s discussion is about Arturo Coello. The amiable Spaniard is 23 years old, and he is the world’s No. 1 practitioner of padel. Surging in worldwide popularity, padel is a mash-up of racket sports that marries elements of tennis (including the scoring system and ball) with the slashing strokes, delicate angles and tactical positioning (and wall usage) of squash. Though conceived more than 50 years ago in Mexico, padel has caught fire recently, particularly in Europe, where court construction is rising by triple digits year over year.
