The Premier Padel P1 main draw kicked off on Monday at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria.

This is the first time an official padel tour has included South Africa on the circuit.

While a few South African teams fell short in qualifying, there were two teams in the main draw gunning to advance past the round of 64.

First up was Edmond van Heerden and Jason Blakey Milner who came up against stiff competition in Argentina’s Valentino Libaak and Gonzalo Gabriel Alfonso.

The South Africans lost the match in straight sets.

Next up, South Africa’s top pairing, Richard Ashforth and Luan Krige, who faced off against Spaniards Collardo Losada and Pol Hernandez Alvarez.

Unfortunately, the Spanish pair were just too much for their South African counterparts, also winning in straight sets.

However, it was not without moments for the South Africans.

Ashforth ran out of the court to return the opponents kicksmash and win a point that sent the South African crowd wild.

Krige, Ashforth’s partner told the Mail & Guardian that the moment gave him goosebumps: 

“That moment when Richard ran out and won that point and the crowd went mad is the moment we live for,” Krige said.

The pair admitted that even as South Africa’s top duo, there is a major gap in the level between them and the world’s best.

However, the sport is only six years old in South Africa. The first public courts were only built in early 2020.

The sport has grown rapidly in South Africa since then.

There are 1 513 courts and 458 clubs across 30 cities in the country, with players playing an average of more than four times a month, according to data from Playtomic — the official application that connects Padel players throughout the world.

Last year saw 131 new clubs open in the country and 387 new courts. Gauteng and the Western Cape together make up 67.7% of the country’s courts.

There are about half a million amateur players in South Africa, however the data shows that there are only about 70 000 to 90 000 active players a month.

Both Krige and Ashforth have only been in the sport since 2023.

There has been an influx of franchise leagues in South Africa, including the Diamond League, which puts elite talent in the country all on the same court to build the level of players.

“The leagues have helped us but there’s so many. We haven’t had a break but they do help the players in the country,” Ashforth said.

“To build ourselves, we do however need to play against these players more and go and train in countries like Spain,” Ashforth added.

South Africa’s last hope of getting past the round of 64 will be on Tuesday evening when Adam van Harte and Warren Kuhn go up against Spaniards Pablo Reina Ambel and Marcel Font.

The journalist’s tickets were sponsored by Red Bull ZA