Just a few short weeks after its unveiling, the world’s first-ever combination padel and pickleball court will be installed at the prestigious Westside Tennis Club in Forest Hills, New York, in April or May.
The concept of a dual padel and pickleball court was launched by European modular padel court company Instantpadel and flooring partner Versacourt, and global interest in the unique and revolutionary court offering was immediate, with the elite Westside Tennis Club – which hosted the U.S. Open for 60 years along with 10 Davis Cups – being the first venue to take the plunge and make an order.
The club, situated in Queens, has a whopping 38 tennis courts with five different surfaces, plus platform tennis (which is known by some as “paddle”, thus causing a huge headache in the padel world), several pickleball courts, and a junior-Olympic sized swimming pool. It also includes the 14,000-seat Forest Hills Stadium which is a well-known venue for concerts and entertainment.
Westside General Manager, Layosh Toth, contacted Instantpadel co-founder Christoffer Granfelt after seeing the padel and pickleball court concept online.
“Layosh was really interested in our concept and we very quickly agreed to partner up at their prestigious location,” Granfelt says, before adding, “Westside is the perfect spot for us to launch at. It’s our first step into the US market and it’s hugely exciting.
It’s the perfect place to enter our concept into the market. People are not going to walk away from pickleball in the US, but they are interested to learn more about padel. This is a great way for us to introduce the sport in a humble way, instead of saying, ‘Padel is the better sport!’”
The launch of the Versacourt dual-sport court has brought an influx of interest for Instantpadel – particularly here in the U.S., where their modular courts are attracting interest because they do not require expensive groundwork or permits.
“The US really woke up!” Granfelt reports jokingly. “I’ve never had so much to do in the last couple of weeks. We got a lot of shares and ‘Wow’s’ on social media and concrete discussions. People like the idea. We are enabling them to try out padel while still offering pickleball. We are not competing with padel or pickleball – we are a great alternative. We can co-exist with everyone which is a fun role to have!”
A version of this article was originally written by Mike Dale for The Padel Paper on March 18, 2024. It has been modified and republished with permission.
