The following article about America’s top padel influencers is from guest columnist Freddie Hanbury, a sports marketing professional and padel enthusiast, who is seeking to chronicle some of the most influential players, thinkers, and business people in the U.S. padel world in light of the sport’s explosive growth across America over the past couple years.
This is part two of a four-part series and the following U.S. padel personalities are featured in no particular order.
Ryan Redondo: CEO of Taktika Padel, co-owner of the San Diego Stingrays pro padel team
Ryan Redondo, a former pro tennis player whose aunt competed at Wimbledon, has deep roots in the racket-sports industry to say the least.
As CEO of Taktika Padel, Redondo was one of padel’s early adopters in the U.S., motivated by his vision to see players from all backgrounds picking up a padel racket.
Under Redondo’s leadership, Taktika has opened four padel clubs thus far, including the first-ever college padel and pickleball facility at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA. And they have a stated goal of operating 200 total courts within two years.
Redondo and Taktika Chairman Gabriel Perez Krieb also founded the San Diego Stingrays, which was one of the original seven teams in the Pro Padel League (PPL). So you can expect Redondo to be at the forefront of this industry in the years to come.
Joe Gross: Partner, Padel Lux
Joe Gross is a man who doesn’t settle for average. As such, he wants Padel Lux to be known not just as a padel court construction company but as a comprehensive padel solutions company.
Furthermore, he believes that no location or project is impossible for Padel Lux. That explains why they eagerly tackled the challenge of bringing padel to the Embarcadero in San Francisco and recently developed a “Cat-5” hurricane-proof padel court for clubs and facilities which are more prone to extreme weather.
Joe uses his vast experience in the communications and client-based world to attract the customers who help put Padel Lux on the map. Working across the U.S. and in the Caribbean, they take their personal approach to fulfill all of their clients’ biggest wishes with the highest quality possible. A salesman at heart, Joe is driving padel court construction and implementation to the next level in the U.S. and beyond.
Robyn Duda: Co-founder of RacquetX
Thinking differently and creating bold change are just two of the many characteristics which are second nature to Robyn Duda.
Her founding of RacquetX, a sports trade festival celebrating the success of racket sports in the U.S., was the latest example of success. Duda has over 20 years of leadership in marketing and a track record of transforming industries via technology and cutting edge event concepts with clinically designed strategies.
Alongside Marco Giberti, Robyn Duda put on an event which embraced padel alongside pickleball as the new “it sport” to hit America. With dates already announced for March of next year, RacquetX confirmed itself as one of the most exciting events of the year and will be bookmarked in any padel fan’s diary for 2025!
Hank Medina: “Meme-lord” behind Litquidity, Investor in Bond Life Club
Using an abundance of intelligence, wit, and charisma, Hank Medina quickly became a household name in the U.S. through his Litquidity social media accounts (which have over 800k loyal followers on Instagram and are the finance world equivalent of Barstool Sports).
Medina was a tennis player in his youth and now, just like the rest of us, is obsessed with padel. His love of the sport has seen him invest in Bond Life Club, a health club based in the Hamptons, which will have padel at the forefront and which he says, “will be a gathering place for a new generation of padel players and current players from around the world.”
When someone with such a big social following shows support for a sport, the effect it has cannot be underestimated, and there is little doubt that the U.S. padel world will feel the effect of Hank Medina going forward.
Alan Flatt: President of InvestTrek Capital
EEP Captial was the first dedicated venture capital company for the emerging U.S. padel market and former president and CEO Alan Flatt was majorly involved in their acquisition of the Los Angeles BEAT franchise of the Pro Padel League before going on to launch InvestTrek Capital.
Flatt obviously understands the enormous potential that padel has in the U.S., saying, “Padel is something that’s a little more of a business but shares that exact same quality of people spending time together.”
This clear understanding combined with the success which Flatt has had in his career makes him someone who will no doubt have a major impact on the success of padel across America in the years to come.
We’ll be back soon with part three of this series on America’s top 20 padel influencers, so please stayed tuned (or just subscribe to our “State of the Game” newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn). In the meantime, drop us a line in the comments below or on LinkedIn and let us know who else you think should be included.
