World Padel Tour · History

World Padel Tour (WPT) was the professional padel circuit run by Setpoint Events, a subsidiary of S.A. Damm, from 2013 to 2023. It succeeded the Padel Pro Tour, which had been held from 2005 to 2012, and put the elite men’s and women’s events on a single calendar. It completed eleven seasons before Qatar Sports Investments bought it and folded it into Premier Padel.

Origins and organisation

The first edition, in 2013, came out of an agreement between the group of professional tournament organisers, the Professional Padel Players Association (AJPP) and the Spanish Women’s Padel Association (AFEP). Setpoint Events managed the circuit. It set the quality requirements for each tournament and guaranteed the prize money. Its parent company, Damm, was also a sponsor, and several events carried the name of its Estrella Damm brand.

Format and calendar

The 2013 calendar had 19 events: 18 Opens and a Master Final. It began with the Murcia Open from 8 to 14 April, covered much of Spain, visited Portugal and Argentina, with stops in Buenos Aires and Villa Carlos Paz, and ended with the Master Final from 16 to 22 December. That first Master Final went to Maxi Sánchez and Sanyo Gutiérrez in the men’s draw and to Alejandra Salazar and Icíar Montes in the women’s. In later years the tour staged between 15 and 25 tournaments a season, split into Open and Master categories. Each season still ended with the Master Final, reserved for the top 16 in each ranking. By 2023 the calendar reached 14 countries. Gol broadcast matches from 2017 to 2021. In 2021 the circuit launched its own platform, WPT TV, and in 2022 Movistar Plus+ began showing the tour in Spain.

Belasteguín and Lima, 2013-2018

The early men’s seasons revolved around Fernando Belasteguín. The Argentine finished 2013 and 2014 as number one alongside Juan Martín Díaz, then did it again in 2015, 2016 and 2017 with Uruguay’s Pablo Lima. In 2018 the top spot went to Maxi Sánchez and Sanyo Gutiérrez. By the end of the circuit, Belasteguín had 65 WPT titles across Opens, Masters and Master Finals, the last of them in October 2022. Lima had 50 and Sanyo Gutiérrez 37.

A new generation of men, 2019-2023

In 2019 Juan Lebrón and Paquito Navarro finished the year on top. Lebrón then teamed up with Alejandro Galán, and the pair ended 2020, 2021 and 2022 as number one. Galán left the WPT era with 34 titles and Lebrón with 32. The final season, 2023, belonged to Spain’s Arturo Coello and Argentina’s Agustín Tapia, who finished the year as the top-ranked pair.

The women’s tour

In the women’s draw, Elisabeth Amatriain and Patricia Llaguno were the number one pair in 2013. Twin sisters Mapi and Majo Sánchez Alayeto held that position in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018. In 2016 it went to Alejandra Salazar and Marta Marrero. Marrero returned to the top in 2019 with Marta Ortega, and from 2020 the ranking was led by Gemma Triay, first with Lucía Sainz and then with Salazar in 2021 and 2022. In 2023 Ariana Sánchez and Paula Josemaría finished first. Salazar closed the WPT era with 52 titles, the highest total in the women’s standings.

Sale and final season

On 24 August 2023, Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) and Damm announced a deal under which QSI acquired the commercial assets of World Padel Tour. The purchase ended almost two years of conflict with Premier Padel. Both circuits completed their calendars separately until the end of the year. The last event was the Master Final, played from 14 to 17 December 2023 at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, with 15,779 spectators on semi-final day. Paquito Navarro and Federico Chingotto beat Lebrón and Galán 6-1, 6-4 in the men’s final. Delfi Brea and Bea González took the women’s title 6-4, 6-1. In 2024 the circuit was merged into Premier Padel, the unified tour governed by the International Padel Federation (FIP).