Paddle is a sport invented by a Mexican in Acapulco.

Don Enrique Corcuera only wanted the tennis ball not to fall into the undergrowth that surrounded the court he had built on his property in Las Brisas, Acapulco (Guerrero). Unintentionally, that wish sparked a series of improvisations that shaped a new sport: paddle tennis.

Yes, the game that is currently experiencing significant growth originated in Mexico in 1969. There, on that poorly adjusted tennis court that Don Enrique Corcuera had made and that became the standard size (20x10 meters); and, above all, with those three-meter-high walls he put up as a fence to prevent the ball from falling among the plants.

Initially, he wanted to play tennis, but realized that it was no longer possible on that enclosed court, so he started imposing his own rules: the ball could bounce off the wall and remain in play, the tennis racket was not strong enough, so a paddle was needed, and this new activity was best played in pairs.

Popular Exported Game

In its early years, paddle tennis was simply a recreational activity for Enrique Corcuera, his family, and his friends, whom he frequently invited to play on his court. However, its popularity spread among his neighbors, who started building their own courts.

Even the great friendships that Corcuera had as a prominent businessman helped to spread his new sport. It is said that Prince Alfonso de Hohenlohe-Langenburg of Spain was one of the frequent visitors to his house in Acapulco, and he was so fascinated by paddle tennis that he later incorporated it as an activity in his hotel in Marbella, where it became popular in Spain, which today has the largest number of practitioners with over eight million people.

The other country that also fell in love with this Mexican creation was Argentina, and it had to do with Enrique Corcuera's wife, Viviana, who was from that country and helped spread paddle tennis through relatives and friends.

And ironically, paddle tennis never experienced the boom in Mexico that it did in Spain and Argentina. Yes, an international sport that was the result of a Mexican's desire not to have to retrieve his tennis ball from the undergrowth.

DAO