The second Pro Padel League season starts on Tuesday (2 April) in Miami with a star-studded roster, more teams, a new format – and two British players!
Last year’s inaugural PPL saw the Las Vegas Smash – including GB No.1 Tia Norton – defeat Cancun Waves in the final to lift the title after an intense six-week tournament in Tampa, Florida.
This year’s PPL is spread out over four qualifying ‘events’ – 2-7 and 9-14 April in Miami and 12-17 and 19-24 August in Los Angeles – leading to the PPL Cup Final in New York from 18-23 November. Teams will be competing for over $150,000 in prize money.
This year also sees a boost in the pedigree of the participants. The roster includes five players ranked number one in their respective countries, along with Agustin Tapia and Ariana Sanchez Fallada, top players in the International Padel Federation (FIP) rankings.
Additionally, there are 11 players ranked top five in the world, 24 players ranked top 10 the world, and 40 players ranked top 20 in the world who will be competing in 2024.
After her incredible experience as part of the winning franchise team last year, Tia Norton snatched at the chance to re-sign with Las Vegas Smash for 2024. She is joined by fellow British star Louie Harris, who was snapped up by San Diego Stingrays in the draft.
The first two events, starting on Tuesday, take place at the ULTRA CLUB in Miami. Ten PPL teams will take part, each representing some of the most iconic cities in North America: Las Vegas Smash (2023 champions), Cancun Waves (2023 finalists), Miami Padel Club, Flowrida GOATS, San Diego Stingrays, Los Angeles BEAT, Arkansas Matrix, Toronto Polar Bears, New York Atlantics and Houston Volts.
Taking the court first on opening day at 8:30 a.m. ET in the season’s first head-to-head will be the Arkansas Matrix battling the Cancun Waves, followed by the Flowrida Goats making their PPL debut against the San Diego Stingrays.
PPL 2024 Event 1 fixtures here
In the first event this week, round-robin matches will take place from Tuesday 2 April – Friday 5 April, with the semi-finals being held on Saturday 6 April and the final on Sunday 7 April. All matches will be livestreamed on the PPL YouTube channel.
“The calibre of players competing in the PPL this season are the best in the world and will make for incredibly exciting, and entertaining, matches in Miami starting next week,” said Marcos del Pilar, PPL Commissioner (pictured above).
“With three additional PPL franchises playing in the league this year, we anticipate an even more competitive season than last year that will attract worldwide attention and further grow the sport in North America.”
The only professional sports league to showcase the best male and female athletes, Miami team roster player highlights for the PPL’s first event are:
- Miami Padel Club: Ariana Sanchez Fallada ranked world No.1 and Agustin Tapia ranked world No.4
- New York Atlantics: former world No.1 Juan Martin Diaz, Tamara Icardo world No.11 and Virginia Riera world No.12
- Flowrida GOATS (Orlando): Gemma Triay Pons world No.3 and Aranzazu Osoro world No.13
- Las Vegas Smash (2023 champions): Marta Ortega world No.6
- Los Angeles BEAT: Tolito Aguirre world No.5 and Jessica Castello world No.8
- Arkansas Matrix: former world No.1 Maria Catalina Tenorio Cauvet.
- Toronto Polar Bears: Coki Nieto world No.17 and Victoria Iglesias world No.21
- Cancun Waves (2023 finalists): Carlos Daniel “Sanyo” Gutierrez world No.10, Eduardo Agustin Torre world No.7 and Veronica Virseda Sanchez world No.15
- San Diego Stingrays: Former world No.2 Miguel Lamperti, former world No.2 Maxi Sanchez and former world No.1 Lucia Sainz
- Houston Volts: Claudia Jensen world No.10 and Claudia Fernández world No.16 as well as the promising Ivan Ramirez and Pablo Garcia
The PPL is the first of its kind, and the only professional padel league in the world, to feature team-based competition in a city-based, franchise format.
