BREAKING: Next venue for Premier Padel official — Roland Garros in Paris

The next venue for the new Premier Padel tour is now official. And it won't be just any venue. On Saturday, it was announced that the prestigious Roland Garros in Paris will host a Major-tournament in July. The tour announced this in an official press release on Saturday. 

The Premier Padel tour, created by the International Padel Federation (FIP) and backed by PSG owner Nasser Al Khalaifi's company Qatar Sports Investment (QSI) and the Men's Players' Association (PPA), has premiered this week in Doha, Qatar. On Saturday, the tour announced its next stop during the final day of Qatar Major. 

It will be the venerable Roland Garros tennis ground in Paris, which will host the second Major competition of four this season. The name of the competition will be Paris Premier Padel Major. 

“We are absolutely delighted for our sport, and the players, that padel – under the governance of the International Padel Federation – will be played in one of the world’s most iconic and revered venues – Stade Roland Garros. Padel is growing rapidly in France and we look forward to showcasing our sport at its best to new audiences in this spectacular venue – and to viewers all over the world – under this multi-year deal”, the President of FIP, Luigi Carraro, states in the press release. 

The news is further proof that padel is making its way into the huge venues of the world. Roland Garros has hosted one of the Grand Slams of tennis, the French Open, since 1928, when the complex was inaugurated. 

The Center Court at Roland Garros takes 15,000 visitors during tennis but will probably be converted to padel. 

”It’s an honor to be the first European country to offer the world’s best players a “Major” padel event. The FFT is proud to write padel history by teaming up with FIP and Premier Padel to organize the Paris Premier Padel Major at Stade Roland-Garros. This will propel padel to a new dimension and boost the French fervor for that discipline, which the FFT is supporting through a multi-lever development plan”, states the President of the France Tennis Federation, Gilles Moretton. 

The press release doesn't state how long the agreement between the parties is, but it says that it is part of a multi-year agreement.

The Paris Premier Padel Major will be held between the 11th to 17th of July and will be of type Major (type 1). The highest category that FIP has divided its various competitions. It will be the second Major competition of the year out of four. In total, Premier Padel will organize ten tournaments during this competition season. This is also said to be done next year, to then have 25 competitions in 2024 when the players' contract with the World Padel Tour expires. 

At the same time as Premier Padel is going, there is a conflict with the World Padel Tour. The WPT is demanding a total of €25 million from the contracted players. 

During Thursday's quarterfinal day in Doha, the World Padel Tour issued an official statement. 

”WPT will exercise all the legal actions that are appropriate in Law against any unfair and illegitimate attack, wherever it comes from, to defend its reputation, its rights, and the value of the WPT Circuit,” the message stated. 

The first one is currently being played in Doha, and on Saturday night, there will be a final between Paquito Navarro / Martin Di Nenno and Juan Lebron / Alejandro Galan. 

Follow it on Padelalto.com starting at 8:30 PM (local time).