British national championships begin in Bristol as a flagship Wembley club closes

The LTA Padel National Championships start today. The event runs until Sunday in Bristol, with £10,400 in prize money and LTA ranking points on offer. Aimee Gibson and Catherine Rose defend the women's open title, fresh from helping Great Britain through the World Cup qualifier, with Laura Jackson and Rosie Quirk seeded second. Men's champions Louie Harris and Alex Loughlan face a field that includes GB No.1 Christian Medina Murphy, who plays with Alfonso Patacho. There are also over-40, over-50 and over-60 titles. Entry is free and matches are streamed on Onside TV's YouTube channel. Source: The Padel Paper

Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong through at the Asian Games. Day three in Nagoya produced two long women's matches. Saudi Arabia's Fareh and Yamani beat Thailand's Narkprasert and Srirungreang 6-1, 6-7, 7-6, and Hong Kong's Chan and Law came from a set down to beat a Philippine pair 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. In the men's draw, top seeds Naif and Naif of Qatar lost only one game against Kuwait, and Malaysia's Chin and Aidan Yunus beat Kazakhstan in three sets. The quarter-finals were scheduled for today, with medals decided by Saturday. Source: FIP

Lyon champions survive a scare in Rotterdam. Javi Leal and Fran Guerrero needed a 7-5 third set to beat Enrique Goenaga and Guille Collado as the men's first round finished on Wednesday. Franco Stupaczuk and Jon Sanz, Mike Yanguas and Coki Nieto, and Momo González and Lucas Campagnolo all won in straight sets. In the women's draw, Lorena Rufo and Victoria Iglesias won a third-set tie-break, and Lyon winners Bea Caldera and Carmen Goenaga also went through. Source: Padel Addict (Spanish)

The top seeds start today. Arturo Coello and Agustín Tapia open against Álvaro Montiel and Dani Santigosa, who knocked out Goñi and Alonso on Tuesday. Galán and Chingotto play Enzo Jensen and David Gala, and Lebrón and Augsburger meet Maxi Arce and Juan Tello. In the women's last 16, the FIP picks out Virginia Riera and Julieta Bidahorria, who arrived with back-to-back FIP Tour titles from Nairobi and Houten and won their first-round match 6-4, 6-2. Source: FIP

Rotterdam is being played on a sand-free carpet. Padel Addict reports that the court at the Ahoy uses TenCate's Padeluxe Ultimate Supercourt Blue, a surface making its first appearance on the Premier Padel circuit this year. It needs no sand infill, and the maker's claim is steady grip and a predictable bounce from the first point to the last. The site expects the pairs who adapt quickest in the early rounds to carry that edge through the week. Source: Padel Addict (Spanish)

Social Sports Society's Wembley club has closed. The Padel Paper reports that the operator's three-court flagship at Wembley Park, which opened in May 2024, has been shut for several weeks, with no courts available to book. According to the report, the developer of Wembley Park ended the lease over unpaid rent. Director Jesper Konstantinov told the paper he is in a dispute with his financing partner, which declined to comment. The company's other sites include Sutton, Derby, Bristol, Brent Cross and Bangor, which opened last month. Source: The Padel Paper

American universities get a national padel league. The Wilson American Collegiate Padel League brings together 30 universities and more than 200 student players in four regional divisions, with a season running from this month to national finals in March 2027. Yale, Columbia, Harvard, MIT and Duke are among the entrants. Fernando Belasteguín is the league's lead ambassador and adviser, and Wilson is founding partner and title sponsor. Source: Padel Addict (Spanish)

A Buckinghamshire pub adds two courts. The Black Horse in Chesham is the first site for Padel at the Pub, a group that wants to put courts on spare outdoor space at existing pubs. The courts are open from 7am to 10pm every day, with a café serving from 8am to 4pm. Owner Sam Schroder plans social games, coaching, leagues and competitions, with food and drink in the pub or garden afterwards. Source: The Padel Paper