Padel, Just Outside the Stadium

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

There is a row of padel courts just inside the gates of the Miami Open. Most people walk past them on the way to a match. On Saturday, March 21, we played on them.

Thanks to Dunlop and Padel Revolution, the courts were ours for the afternoon, with the stadium behind us and the Miami Open running the entire time we were out there. We played Americano across two divisions, beginner and intermediate/advanced. Dunlop supplied every padel and every ball. Every player carried a grounds pass for the full day, which changed the shape of the thing entirely. The tournament was a stop, not a destination. Play in the afternoon, then walk a hundred feet and watch the best in the world do it properly.

The prize was not a can of balls. Dunlop put up Club 72 seats for the round of 16 on March 24, day session and night, for every player on the winning teams. At announcement, that was roughly $3,000 for the day and $4,000 for the night. The beginner division was full inside half an hour.

Congrats to Leon Gomez & Emad Abdulrahman for the beginner division and Adam Rubinstein & Alex Rivera for the intermediate/advanced.

Charles Bertimon, Livi Rothfeld joined in on the action, along with Caitlin Thompson of Racquet magazine, one day before we would all be on a terrace in South Beach launching her magazine's new issue. That is a fair summary of how the week went.

March 21 was also our largest single day of member attendance at the Open. Padel in the afternoon, tennis into the night, the same group moving between the two without ever leaving the grounds. A different pace, the same standard.

Thanks to Dunlop and Padel Revolution for granting us access and the ability to create this memory.