Big interview on Dutch padel: ”People asked me: Padel? Are you sure?”

Like so many others, Alex Luneman has made the journey from just tennis to combining it with padel. In a conversation with Padel Alto, he and Ewan Watson, members of the Dutch Padel Federation talk about the present and the future of padel in the Netherlands, how the federation began, its relationship with tennis, and much more.

Alex Luneman is the owner of a tennis academy and a tennis club with 21 courts in the Netherlands. In 2015 he began playing padel and later he added padel courts to his club.

— At that time, when I added padel to my tennis club, people asked me: "Padel? Are you sure?" Now time proved me right. It's crazy, Alex Luneman says. 

Padel Alto met him and Ewan Watson, two pioneers of Dutch padel during a camp in Barcelona. 
 

— The sport is growing fast. In 2020 we ended up with 600 courts, and now we are at 900. So it's like 50% more courts in one year. A lot of people are starting to play. Many football players and famous people in Holland are beginning to play and post it on social media. Everybody knows about padel in Holland now, Ewan Watson says. 

Padel Alto: What is the current level of Dutch professional padel, and what do you expect for the future?

Alex Luneman: — I think almost 80% of our current top players in Holland are former tennis players. For example, Michaella Krajicek, former world number 23, having a good base, learns the basics of padel quickly, but this is not the future for Dutch padel. They will be the best for a few years, but the idea is that they will give way forward to younger players.

The future expectations for Dutch padel are really good. I see it as a pyramid; at the base is the big community of amateurs who play, in the middle is the people who compete, even if they are amateurs, and the top is the professional players.

At the base, the important thing is that there are parents, and these parents who play and are fans of padel will take their children to play it too...the sport becomes more popular, and the wider the base, the more options there will be for players to reach the top. But it's a matter of time, and you can't make it happen. You have to develop it. This is one of the current functions of the padel federation, under the umbrella of the Dutch tennis federation.

Padel Alto: How is the relationship between the padel federation and the tennis federation in the Netherlands?

Ewan Watson: — At the beginning, the padel federation was very small and separated from the tennis federation. The tennis federation took over the padel federation and accompanied the sport's growth. Some people were in the padel federation from the beginning, and today they have a position in the tennis federation, but in the padel department.

Alex Luneman: — The Tennis Federation is a big federation, is very strong in tournaments and competitions and has a very good organization in that kind of thing.  It adopted the padel federation and is giving it a boost financially and in terms of competitions and tournaments. They organize tournaments at all levels, from the lowest to the highest level, to promote padel. They are also trying to encourage tennis coaches to begin teaching padel, but this will take time.

Padel Alto: What does the Dutch padel growth project consist of?

Alex Luneman: — In 2017, we started looking for an improvement because we were a little stuck. So the Dutch Padel Federation president at that time, the Argentinian Norberto Nesi, sent us to Spain to train us and begin a development project. That's where we met Mauri Andrini (Padel Alto´s expert), Head Coach and creator of Hello Padel Academy, and we started working together.

Ewan Watson:  — There, the demand for padel lessons began to grow, many players started to move from tennis to padel. The courts were full. That's when the federation said...we will need more coaches. Because although the tennis coaches were beginning to teach padel, they were not going to develop as fast as the players, who played five times a week while the coaches were still giving tennis and padel lessons.

Alex Luneman: — That's when we decided that we needed Spanish coaches with a good level of English, who could give us an upgrade, and help us improve both players and coaches. Now we have 4, and we will need three more in the next while. We want to give importance to the speed in the development of the sport and the quality because we believe that will be important in the long-term.

Padel Alto - Is this trip to Spain part of this long-term project?

Ewan Watson: – Yes, we are here in Spain developing the junior project, we have players training in Spain, and I think it will be very beneficial as they will develop very quickly. We have several young players, who I believe in 4 or 5 years, will become professionals and make a living from the sport. We aim for the future, with a medium to a long-term project based on quality.

Alex Luneman: — We have been meeting here with Mauri Andrini, Pablo Ayma, Pablo Crosetti. This has been the function of this last trip, and I think it has been a success.

Ewan Watson: — The purpose of the trips is also that our players, especially the younger ones, can interact with players from other places, for example, Spain. Learn from them and exchange knowledge and experiences.

Padel Alto: Last year, you were with the junior team playing in Sweden. How was that experience?

Alex Luneman: — When I was in Sweden, on a padel-related trip for the first time, I said ok...these guys know what they are doing. They are 4 or 5 years ahead of us in padel. I think it's also a question of money, of course, there are more investors in Sweden, making the sport develop faster. They are doing things very well with the coaches, and they are even taking Spanish players to compete with their own.

Our experience last year in Sweden was amazing. We were there with 24 kids from Holland to play against 24 kids from Sweden. We played at Every Padel Gothenburg, a beautiful club with 24 courts. Everything was very well organized. They took care of everything - transport, accommodation, food, matches - it was a fantastic experience.

We will try to organize something in Holland for the kids this year, with Sweden, Belgium, and Spain, it's not official, but we will try.