Cover Padel is rapidly carving out a space in land-scarce Hong Kong, using its compact court design to turn underused urban locations into popular sports hubs. (Photo: Getty Images)
Padel is rapidly carving out a space in land-scarce Hong Kong, using its compact court design to turn underused urban locations into popular sports hubs. (Photo: Getty Images)
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Fuelled by tight court geometry and high revenue yields, padel is popping up across office plazas and rooftops without displacing the city’s booming tennis scene
Hong Kong doesn’t so much get new sporting venues as new answers to an old question: where shall we play? Given the price of land and property, it takes a really unexpected USP for someone to invest in a new leisure or sport facility. Padel is fulfilling that requirement.
In November 2025, UBS Padel Central launched its glass-walled courts on the Central harbourfront—their popularity have led to a further two seasons so far. What could be viewed merely as a lifestyle activation is really a case study in how this city decides what gets built.
Of all the sports chasing Hong Kong’s scarcest resource, padel’s economics simply work best; not because tennis has fallen out of favour—far from it; and there are plenty of courts—but because in a market where every square foot is contested, geometry and yield are deciding factors.
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The maths of padel in Hong Kong
Padel originated in Mexico in 1968 and is usually played as doubles matches. It has the same scoring system as tennis, but different rules and different equipment. The rackets are solid, not stringed; the balls are slightly smaller and less bouncy, and the courts are enclosed by wall, not unlike a squash court.
Then there is the size. A padel court measures 20m by 10m—200 sq m, or a little over 2,100 sq ft, not much smaller than a tennis doubles court's 36 by 78 ft, or 2808 sq ft. But that’s not the full tennis story; the game demands generous square footage, known as “run-off space”, around the court. The International Tennis Federation’s club-level recommendation for a doubles court, run-off included, comes to 7,200 sq ft. Padel’s enclosed design needs a fraction of that clearance, since the walls are part of the game rather than something to avoid. The most basic arithmetic shows you can fit two or even three padel courts into the space needed for a single tennis court.
And then there’s the money. One UK council’s business case for adding padel courts alongside its existing tennis facility projected roughly £201,600 a year in new padel revenue against about £40,000 in tennis income given up on the same land, paying back the build cost in just over a year. Industry estimates for revenue per square metre put padel at three to six times a tennis court’s output depending on location and use, with typical payback running three to five years as opposed to five to ten for a comparable tennis investment. None of these are Hong Kong figures. But they’re part of the logic behind why investors, government organisation and private clubs here might be considering adding padel to the line-up.
Where the growth is landing
None of this development has meant tennis courts getting ripped out. What’s happened instead is new sporting real estate is being established in corners of the city that never made sense for much else. Padel+, Hong Kong’s first club dedicated to the sport, grew from Sai Kung into a Taikoo Place pop-up wedged between office towers. Go Park Sai Sha in Ma On Shan built seven courts and partners with the Hong Kong China Padel Association to offer coaching to beginners, aiming to build participation from the ground up, and not just finesse existing pros. The UBS Padel Central social media accounts are flooded with queries as to when a fourth season might begin.
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In April 2026, the Asia Pacific Padel Tour’s Grand Slam Platinum was held at Kai Tak Sports Park, staged in the Fan Village alongside the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens. Hong Kong also hosted its first FIP (International Padel Federation) Bronze tournament this year, and the city now has locally ranked players on the regional circuit for the first time. Tennis courts have not been taken away; it is a case of organisers looking at underused office plazas and rooftop lots and realising padel simply fits where tennis never could.
This is happening all over the world. According to Playtomic, there are now more than 58,000 padel courts worldwide, roughly six times the 2016 figure, with close to 8,000 added in 2025 alone. Asia is home to only a sliver of that total, but is tipped for the fastest regional growth going forward; Hong Kong, dense and chronically short on land, is about as good a testing ground as the sport could ask for.
Tennis, unmoved
Hong Kong’s tennis fans need have no cause for alarm, though; the sport is having one of its best year in the local history of the game. Coleman Wong, the city’s top-ranked player, spent 2026 rewriting the record books: he’s the first Hong Kong player ever to crack the ATP top 100, the first Hong Kong man to win an ATP Masters 1000 match; last year’s run to the third round of the US Open was a first for a Hong Kong man in the Open Era. He was named a Tatler Gen.T Leaders of Tomorrow on the strength of his success.
Interestingly, Wong’s tennis education didn't happen at a private club—it started on a public court in Victoria Park, where he took up the sport by accident aged five, standing in for his sick sister at a lesson his parents had already paid for. Private clubs such as Hong Kong Football Club, Hong Kong Cricket Club and Hong Kong Country Club, as well as schools continue to run full tennis programmes and junior coaching. These public and private courts won’t be affected by padel’s growing popularity.
This isn’t about competition between a well-established sporting venture and the cocky new upstart—it’s a city rethinking its leisure offerings and how best to supply them. Padel has simply provided an option that fits perfectly in our space-limited hometown.
Pete Laverick is a sports and lifestyle journalist for Tatler Hong Kong. A former professional rugby player, he brings an athlete’s perspective to his coverage of the city’s sports and fitness scene. A committed fitness enthusiast, Pete is always testing something new—from Hyrox to marathons and triathlons—writing with the first-hand insight of someone who has lived at the top level of sport. He also has a standing invitation from Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeannie Buss to watch the Lakers at the Crypto.com Arena if he makes it to California.
