Sensa Padel: ”Our goal is to build a national brand of clubs across the U.S”

It was during a walk a few years ago that Ludvig Dieden and Aditya Khilnani began discussing the possibility of opening padel facilities in the U.S. Today, they have just opened their first facility and plan to open two more before the end of the year. In this article, we meet the entrepreneurs who share their plans to establish a network of padel clubs across the U.S. in the coming years.

The interest in padel is growing globally, and its expansion in the U.S. is a significant part of this development. Padel has become a reality in the country, with the potential for substantial growth. Two individuals well aware of this are Ludvig Dieden and Aditya Khilnani, the partners of Sensa Padel.

They have just opened their first facility in the U.S. and plan to open many more in the coming years. But their journey began on a walk a few years ago.

— I started playing padel in Sweden during the big padel boom. I was friends with many who started playing at the first padel center in Frihamnen. From there, it continued, and then I moved to New York in 2021. At that time, there were no padel facilities in New York City, just a few in Miami. I wanted to play padel, and during a winter evening walk in Central Park with Aditya, we started talking about padel. Aditya had grown up playing competitive tennis and was enjoying the migration to padel, and was equally frustrated by the lack of courts in New York, says Ludvig Dieden.

He continues:

— We found out that we had independently started working on a plan to put some courts in the U.S. Initially, our plan was just to find space for one court where Aditya and I could play in our spare time with friends while keeping our day jobs. But soon, we realized we had a great business idea and could bring padel to the U.S.

The business idea became a reality a few months later after they decided to commit to the business. Aditya Khilnani continues to share their journey:

— We were completely surprised that there were only a few hundred padel courts in the U.S. This was in mid-2022, and even now, there are still very few courts - about 400. When we started talking about this, there were only about 200. Meanwhile, there are around 35,000 pickleball courts and over 250,000 tennis courts. I don't see why there shouldn't be more padel courts than tennis courts – we’re just at the beginning of the US padel revolution. Padel is much more accessible, easier to play and most importantly there’s an amazing community around padel, so we felt there was an exciting problem to solve, says Aditya Khilnani.

He continues:

— So we worked on the business plan, spent time understanding the market, and visited hundreds of locations to better understand the type of real estate available. And honestly, it was a lot of fun. In mid-September 2022, I decided to go full-time on this and said, this is the baby, we are going to build something great.

Today, as we talk, Sensa Padel has recently opened their first facility in the U.S. It is located in Boston and is the first of three to open this year. Aditya Khilnani shares their vision for the company in the coming years:

— We have just opened our first facility in Boston, and our goal is to build a national brand of clubs across the U.S. Think of something like SoulCycle for padel. We strive to offer a consistent customer experience whilst also building strong local partnerships in each city to meet the local culture of each city.

— One of the benefits of membership is that you can play at different locations when you travel across the country. This year, we are opening three locations - Boston, Nashville, and Austin. 

”Build a great community”

 — Our goal this year is to build a great community and create an excellent experience at our facilities. We strive for our customers to enter happy, leave happier. We’re launching padel in new markets and so need to invest a lot in education, events and intro to padel clincis to teach the game in the right way – we’ve hosted many free games and community events in Boston during the first month to get people to try padel.

— Our facility in Nashville is part of a mixed-use development from the 1920s, covering over 900,000 square feet of retail, food and beverage, residential, and office space. We feel fortunate to be in such a vibrant and design forward development, where New City Properties has invested in restoring 18 blocks of historic architecture, maintaining the architectural history of the Germantown neighborhood while bridging modernity and sustainability. 

— Each city is unique with a unique culture. Our vision as we grow is to think global, act local. And continue to invest in our locations with more member services under one roof. We believe its important to start with utmost focus on the customer experience, community building and regular programming to introduce the sport in the right way from day one, and continue to grow from there. 

How has the interest been in Boston in the first few weeks?

— The interest has been great and we’ve been fortunate to meet so many enthusiastic racket players in Boston. Both padel lovers who played in other cities or their home countries, as well as tennis and platform tennis players who picked up padel very quickly. We’re now also investing in a top coaching program to teach daily intro to padel clinics and introduce non racket players to the sport. It’s great to see the community growing every week, and there’s a beautiful culture of friends introducing padel to their, says Aditya Khilnani and continues:

— But we still have a lot of work to do in Boston, we’re the first club in the city and so many people have never heard or played padel before. It’s an exciting challenge ahead! 

What do you think will be key factors for the sport to become big in the U.S.?

— The main driver for making padel big is to get as many people as possible to try the sport for the first time, and have the right teaching programs in place to ensure new players are introduced to the sport correctly. The easiest first time players are people who’ve played rackets beofre, but the real beauty and wider appeal of padel is that it’s easy to play – catering to people who never played sports before. Americans love sports and there is an active and social culture here – padel offers a more social version of tennis, while also allowing for more competitive pickleball, says Ludvig Dieden.

Aditya Khilnani adds:

—Training and coaching are very important to introduce the sport correctly. Small details like music on the courts and a welcoming atmosphere also play a big role. Good customer service and organization during open plays are key. When people come for open plays, they appreciate being grouped into good teams and the right levels. The first three experiences on the court are extremely important.

”Team is everything”

— Team is everything! We are hiring a really passionate and high quality, which we are very proud of, and the only way we can implement our vision.

— The vision for the company is to build a national brand of clubs across the U.S, focusing on a really good customer experience, a social club with more than just padel, and most importantly happy customers at all locations” says Khilnani.

Finally, Aditya Khilnani shares that there is incredible energy around padel in the U.S. right now. 

— I feel we are at the grassroots of the upcoming US padel boom - sometimes I imagine this is what it felt like working in Silicon Valley in the 90s.