Americanization, Plagiarism(?), and Celeb Beef

El Remate #41 | What's hot in 🇺🇸 & 🌎 padel | July 21-28, 2026

Bienvenidos a El Remate! I’m Aris, a padel-obsessed Missourian who spent two years living in Argentina and Spain to deeply understand the sport’s strategy, culture, and business. I’ve played and competed across 3 continents and 12 countries, and recently started documenting my journey on Instagram.

Each week, I curate what matters in padel: new US club openings, technique tips, my takes on international headlines and pro drama, plus insider knowledge from the global circuit. Subscribe for weekly updates! 📧

🔍 Topics we’ll cover this week

Drake loves padel so much, he hosted Tapia, Lebrón, and Kevin Durant at a New Jersey mansion, quietly previewing Nike’s entry into the sport… despite the internet crying “plagiarism.”

And new clubs are popping up from El Paso to the Hamptons, while Premier Padel is breaking new ground in South Africa.

Also in this issue:
— Why anticipation > speed
— The t-shirt that re-ignited NBA beef
— “Mandated to play padel”

…and plenty more. Seguimos!

🇺🇸 Court Openings

Coming Soon

• A new dedicated padel club is under construction on the east side of El Paso, TX. The $400,000 project will transform a vacant lot into a facility with three padel courts and office space. A name or opening date have not yet been announced.

  

Now Open

• The Faraway Sag Harbor just opened in New York’s Hamptons, bringing a new bookable padel court to the 67-room waterfront hotel. Following a $66.5 million redevelopment of the former Baron’s Cove, the luxury destination pairs padel with a heated outdoor pool, spa, fitness center, and Amalfi Coast-inspired restaurant.

  

• Miami’s padel scene continues to expand with The Gables Padel, which just opened in the city’s Flagami neighborhood. The club features eight padel courts and is centered around creating a community-focused destination.

  

• American padel franchise Padel Haus has officially opened its third New York City location and sixth location nationwide, located within Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood. The club features five indoor courts with 35-foot ceilings, locker rooms with rain showers, a members’ lounge, pro shop, and the brand’s signature Juice Haus. The club wasted no time establishing itself as a tournament destination, hosting its grand opening on July 23 before welcoming a USA Padel major just one day later.

  

Additional Club Buzz 🐝

• Ballers’ flagship location in Philadelphia, PA was featured in a Wall Street Journal article covering “the push to make padel the next pickleball.”

• Deuces Padel Club just kicked off its soft opening in Laredo, TX.

📈 Up Your Game 

Wanna Feel Faster? Quit Trying to Run Faster.

Truth is, the biggest improvements in padel usually have less to do with how fast you can run, and more to do with when you move.

In this 8.5-minute video, Coach Sandy from The Padel School explains that court speed has two components: (1) physical movement and (2) anticipation. Most amateur players focus almost exclusively on the first while overlooking the second.

Start with the split step. It’s a tiny hop onto the balls of your feet right as your opponent makes contact with the ball. That’s it!

The pros are almost never flat-footed. Even when the ball is headed to their partner, they’re still light on their toes, ready for anything.

Anticipation is also key. As soon as you hit a shot, be sure to recover into position and narrow down what your opponents are most likely to do next.

For example:

• Hit a strong serve? A quality lob becomes much less likely.

• If your opponent consistently lobs from the middle, start preparing your overhead before they even make contact.

The more patterns you recognize, the less you’ll rely on pure athleticism. Suerte!

🌍 International Happenings  

Americanization, Plagiarism(?), and Celeb Beef

If you needed proof this sport is becoming more Americanized, look no further than a New Jersey estate. Top hip-hop artist Drake hosted a second annual NOCTA Manor retreat that pulled together an odd, telling guest list: world No. 1 Agustín Tapia, Juan Lebrón, and NBA stars Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, all on a padel court in front of a bunch of cameras.

Let’s not kid ourselves here… this was much more of a business meeting than a hangout. As part of Nike’s nonchalant move into padel—which we’ve been documenting over the last ~3 months—the Oregon-based brand showed off a trio of models (Command, Attack, Balance) at the event, with Tapia (who’s still contracted to NOX through 2028) as the presumed centerpiece of a future ambassador deal. Nothing was officially launched, but nothing was officially denied either.

But without missing a beat, the internet pointed out that the Command, Attack, and Balance bear an uncanny resemblance to existing Drop Shot molds (i.e., bridge shapes, and drilling patterns as three of the brand’s models. Rebadged production runs aren’t new in racket sports, but “Nike innovation” and “borrowed Spanish mold” don’t sit well together in the same headline, and I think it’s worth highlighting.

To end on a funny note, an interesting t-shirt came out of Drake’s event, referencing Lebrón’s surname at the expense of NBA legend LeBron James (who Drake currently has beef with).

🏆 Pro Padel Roundup 

Pregamin’ Pretoria. New Ball, New Team. (🇿🇦)

Premier Padel makes history this week with its first-ever stop in South Africa at the Pretoria P1. And men’s No. 1s Coello / Tapia arrive gunning for a sixth straight title after sweeping Rome, Valencia, Valladolid, Bordeaux, and Málaga. Here’s where you can watch it.

The bigger story might be the ball. At nearly 4,400 feet (1,340 meters), Pretoria sits high enough that the thin air turns every smash into a potential rocket. Organizers are countering with the Bullpadel Premium Pro High Altitude, a lower-internal-pressure ball designed to tame the bounce without killing rallies outright. It’s a lesson learned the hard way… Mexico City 2021 tried pressureless balls at altitude and got the opposite problem, with seven-minute rallies and exhausted players.

On the partnership front, Sofia Araújo and Marta Ortega are back together. This is their third go-around after two stints that produced four titles combined. Neither has won a title in 2026 yet... awkwardly, their ex-partners (Calvo, Fernández) have now paired up with each other.

🎯 Quick Hits 

• Exploding Topics (a trend-tracking platform that discovers growing products, startups, and industry shifts before they go mainstream) flagged “padel balls” this week after search interest surged 1,560% over the past five years. (🇺🇸🇬🇧🇸🇬🇿🇦🇭🇰)

• The FIP has awarded the 2027 Euro Padel Cup to the Netherlands and the 2029 edition to Germany, often considered two of Europe’s fastest-growing padel markets. (🇳🇱🇩🇪)

• Pakistan’s national cricketers will now have to earn their court time… literally. The Pakistan Cricket Board has made padel a mandatory part of training camps, in effort to sharpen its players’ agility, reflexes, and fielding. (🇵🇰)

• Argentine padel GOAT Fernando “Bela” Belasteguín has unveiled plans for a €5 million Bela Padel Center in Andorra, further expanding his club empire… just nine weeks after announcing a new location in the Buenos Aires suburbs. (🇦🇩)

• Mercedes-Benz has signed on as title sponsor of the Indian Padel Tour’s 19-event 2026-27 season. (🇮🇳)

• Crew Clothing has upgraded its investment in the UK’s Pro Am Padel Tour, becoming its exclusive performance apparel partner. (🇬🇧)

• Players debate: How does one beat the notoriously pesky lefty/righty combo?

🤩 Cool Club of the Week

📍 Riyadh, 🇸🇦
More info here!

Missed a recent issue? Todo tranca che ;) we got you covered:

• Coach Salaries. Global Alliances. Creepy Men.

• The Rolex Effect

• 📌 Hot take editorials:

  • I Said US Padel Is Ass-Backward. Here’s What Ensued

  • POV: The Only 🇺🇸 at the World’s Largest-Ever Padel Tournament

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Thanks for reading! My promise: I’ll keep the newsletters coming, you share with a friend if you’re enjoying. Está bien? Forward to a friend.

For more on-the-ground 🌎 padel content from a 🇺🇸 POV, follow @padelyanqui on Instagram! And if you have any feedback, news to share, or are interested in becoming a preferred partner of El Remate, just respond to this email :)

See you next week & keep smashing those volleys 🎾