My name is Fran, I grew up in Marbella, in the south of Spain playing padel from an early age from 2004, and coming from a tennis background, I was fascinated by the sudden appearance and uptake in Padel. Watching both my parents play socially almost every evening after a long day and finalising it with a nice cold beer. When I started playing, I started lessons with the legendary David Zuñiga on some of the world earliest padel courts. You can still find these at Puente Romano in my hometown of Marbella.
I consider myself quite lucky, being able to witness the development of Padel and how the sport has changed, from the way it is played, the rackets used to the courts where we play today. The older I got, the more I enjoyed it and started playing competitively at the age of 11. I made it to the rankings (albeit quite low) and played my way around Spain playing a brushing shoulders with a large number of the players on the WPT right now.
When I came to complete my degree in the UK, I had to give up playing padel frequently and savour the few games during reading week and the other holidays. Since graduating I find myself living and working in London, with my local club being the Harbour Club Chelsea with short stints back home in Marbella and frequent travels to Portugal, where I play at the Campus in Quinta do Lago.
15 Jul 1997
London
Chelsea Harbour Club
2005
5.0