What Is The World Padel Tour?

Padel, I discovered, was one of the most “federated” sports I had encountered in the world. I was curious to find out how World Padel Tour managed to find and establish itself as a major player in this highly regulated sport fraught with “federated” red tape on an international platform.

What is the World Padel Tour? The World Padel Tour (WPT) is the international circuit for professional padel tournaments for both women and men. The World Padel Tour covers all the professional events for the International Padel Federation, except for the Padel World Championships and Continental Championships.

The World Padel Tour (WPT) was founded in 2012. It was a relatively easy entry into what was then an already established, but disjointed circuit of international tournaments hosted by many the Padel Federations as well as the Padel Pro Tour (PPT). The latter being the first international circuit for professional Padel tournaments.

However, World Padel Tour’s arrival on the world tour circuit was not without some controversy. Join me in looking at all of this in greater detail.

A Unified Umbrella for Professional Padel

By the time Word Padel Tour (WPT) made an official entry on the world circuit in 2012, Padel was booming.  Many padel federations had already been established in Spain, Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay, Paraguay, United States, Canada, and Brazil.

The sport was fast expanding to other countries with the first European federations formed in the ’90s in Spain, France, Italy, Belgium, and Austria.

After having been given the green light by the International Padel Federation, the first World Padel Tour (WPT) started in 2013, which would go on to become the main tour for professional Padel Tournaments. Since then, World Padel Tour has grown to a total of 560 men and 317 women professional players worldwide.

Today, the WPT is the organizing body and brand for top tier professional tournaments around the world. The WPT also houses the official ranking list of professional padel players.

The Padel Pro Tour (PPT) Controversy

In 2012, The World Padel Tour (WPT) had put into place all the necessary requirements to enter the international circuit, including the signing of the 100 best Padel players in the world. But not everybody welcomed this move.

The Padel Pro Tour (PPT), at the time, was ruling the roost. The PPT, founded in 2005, was the dominant player in the field, the first professional paddle tour circuit.

By the time The World Padel Tour (WPT) registered with the International Padel Federation in 2012, the Padel Pro Tour had made its mark on the international circuit and had become the firm favorite with professional players. Soon, the best players in the world joined and played The Padel Pro Tour tournaments in Spain and Argentina.

When the World Padel Tour arrived on the scene it was regarded as “stepping on their turf” kind of thing by the Padel Pro Tour organization, especially when many top players started signing with the World Padel Tour. Padel Pro Tour then, as a preemptive measure, filed a lawsuit to try and stop the first WPT tournament from happening as scheduled in April 2013.

In their affidavit, Padel Pro Tour asked the Court to suspend the WPT. On April 15, 2013, the Madrid Lower Court denied the application because Padel Pro Tour failed to supply evidence to back up their claim. The Lower Court ruling spelled the end of the Padel Pro Tour and at the same time signaled the birth of World Padel Tour WPT).

One of the key innovations that the World Padel Tour brought has been the free worldwide live streaming of WPT tournaments as a way to promote the sport to a global audience. Currently, the live stream is only available with Spanish commentary, but that will change as the padel becomes more popular in English speaking countries.

International Padel Federation (IPF) Approved

From personal experience, one of the first things I learned about doing business in Spain, was that there are many rules. Rules to be adhered to as stipulated by the many levels of governance and ruling bodies.

It’s no different when it comes to sporting events. Everything needs to be “federated.” On national as well regional level. You want to put on an “Espectacular Publico” (public event), permissions need to be requested and obtained and don’t you dare try to be smartass and do it your way. You’re bound to hit a brick wall. Seems like the WPT managed to get it right.

The International Padel Federation (IPF), the governing body of Padel, recognizes The World Padel Tour (WPT) as the official professional circuit worldwide. This gives the WPT the “federated” standing, not only for the tournaments but also as the body responsible for the international ranking list.

The Difference between WPT and Padel World Championships (PWC)

Unlike the World Padel Tour that is a year-round series of events, Padel World Championship is a single international padel competition held every three years since 1992. The first competition was held in Spain. The event is organized by the International Padel Federation and has both male and female competitions.

The World Padel Tour Circuit

Historically, the World Padel Tour has been played in Spain, Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico. However, of late, many more countries outside of Spain and South America have joined in the fray. 

In recent years, France, Sweden, England, Belgium as well as Dubai have hosted tournaments on the circuit. In 2017 the World Padel Tour visited Miami, Florida for the first touch on US soil. Hopefully, the USA will soon become a permanent fixture on the World Padel Tour.

The World Padel Tour Tournaments

The World Padel Tournament has four tiers of tournaments. 

• Challenger
• Open
• Master
• Master Final

Starting at the Challenger, each subsequent tier has higher ranking points and prize money. I.e. the Challenger Tournaments has a lower entry-level. It’s a good way for lower-ranked players to earn points as a way of moving up the ranks. I cover this in more detail in my article on how World Padel Tour rankings are calculated. Click here to read that article.

The WPT Rankings

The WPT ranking is based on the performance of double’s pairings in tournaments and gets updated weekly every Tuesday.

The pairings of the players may change during a season for a number of possible reasons. The most common of these is if one of the players gets a serious season-ending injury. That is why more often than not doubles partners on the World Padel Tour ranking list seldom have the same ranking. For more information, read my article about how the WPT rankings are calculated.

Anti-Doping

World Padel Tour (WPT) is registered with the World Anti-doping Association (WADA). This is part of the checks and balances needed for Padel to become an official Olympic sport. To find out more, here is my article about how padel got classified as a sport and what is needed to become an Olympic sport.