ORLANDO, Fla. , Feb. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — The Pro Padel League (PPL), North America’s first and only professional padel league, is announcing the results of their 2024 Player Draft with over 20 top ranked international padel players (including former world no. 1 players) being drafted to the league for the upcoming 2024 season. Ushering in the next generation of talent and future global padel champions, 14 players were drafted from Spain, three from Argentina, two from the United States, and one from the United Kingdom with the remaining players from Portugal, Bolivia, and Italy.
The 2024 PPL Draft consisted of three rounds including the Expansion Team Round where 2024 expansion teams picked first followed by rounds one and two where all ten 2024 teams made their selections. For the 2024 season, the maximum team roster increased to 12 players from ten in 2023 and the number of international players has been increased to eight international players per team. Because PPL teams were only required to select at least two players in the Draft, the 2024 expansion teams New York and Orlando opted to pass on their final draft pick in round two. In total, 11 women and 10 men were selected in the PPL Draft.
“The 2024 PPL Draft was another important milestone in the history of the league and we are excited to welcome the next generation of talent to the PPL,” said Marcos del Pilar, PPL Commissioner. “Not only did the teams select some of the top padel players in the world including champions and former world no. 1 ranked players, but they secured the next generation of global padel champions to compete in the 2024 season.”
With over 300 padel players from 20 countries around the world entered in the 2024 PPL Draft, this year’s first draft pick in the expansion round was Claudia Fernandez Sanchez (FIP 21, WPT 20, Spain) selected by the Houston Volts. Following this, the Flowrida Goats selected Victor Ruiz Remedios (FIP 18, Spain) for the second pick in the expansion round and the New York Atlantics drafted Andrea Ustero Prieto (WPT 38, Spain).
The 2024 PPL Draft selection highlights include:
- Women’s world no. 8 Sofia Araujo (a member of the winning Hexagon Cup Team) was the highest ranked player drafted by the San Diego Stingrays in the first round.
- Great Britain’s Louie Harris, named the LTA no. 1 male player in December 2023, was also selected by the San Diego Stingrays.
- The Las Vegas Smash (2023 PPL Champions) drafted 27-year-old Argentinean Gonzalo Alfonso and 24-year-old Spaniard Ignacio Vilarino who is ranked 59th in the world.
- 2023 PPL Finalists, the Cancun Waves, drafted padel veteran Carolina Navarro who is ranked 30th in the world and one of padel’s most successful women’s players having spent nine years as the world no. 1 ranked female with over 100 international titles to her name.
- One of the newest franchises to the PPL, the Houston Volts selected a trio of young Spaniards including Claudia Fernandez Sanchez who is ranked 24th in the world. She is joined by 20-year-old Francisco Guerrero ranked 53rd in the men’s standings and 22-year-old Marta Caparros who is ranked 35th in the world.
- Victor Ruiz, the highest ranked male drafted to the PPL and currently ranked no. 16,, was selected by the Flowrida Goats.
- Drafting the youngest player to the PPL this season was the New York Atlantics who selected Spain’s Andrea Ustero (16-years-old) already ranked top 40 in the world. Their second pick was Argentinean Ramiro Moyana Toledo who is ranked 24th.
- The Los Angeles Beat drafted Spain’s Jon Sanz who is nearing a world top 20 ranking and is joined by Italy’s no. 1 female player, 22-year-old Carolina Orsi, who is currently ranked 27th in the world.
- The Miami Padel Club selected Spain’s Jose Jimenez (ranked just outside the men’s top 100) and fellow Spaniard, Lucia Martinez Gomez, who is the women’s world no. 21.
- For the Arkansas Matrix, they drafted Spanish duo Araceli Martinez ranked 45th in women’s standings and 23-year-old Inigo Jofre who is top 100 in the men’s rankings.
- The final 2024 PPL Draft pick went to the Toronto Polar Bears who selected Daniela Ruiz and previously played in the 2023 PPL season in addition to being a member of the USA team at the 2022 World Championships. The Canadian team’s first round pick of the Draft was Spain’s 17-year-old Noemi Aguilar who is ranked 66th in the world.
The only professional sports league to showcase the best male and female athletes, this season some of the most decorated and iconic padel players from around the world will compete in the PPL. For the 2024 season, over 80% of the newly signed PPL players are ranked top 50 in the world.
Recently announcing the PPL’s 2024 season schedule and increased prize money purse of $1 million, this year the PPL will bring padel to both the East and West coasts of the United States where the largest audiences of the sport are located in North America. The 2024 PPL season will be highlighted by an expanded schedule, a new team competition format, more than double the hours of viewer content, and will feature many of the world’s top padel players
For the 2024 season, ten teams will compete for the chance to lift the PPL Cup including the Las Vegas Smash (2023 Champions), Cancun Waves (2023 Finalists), Miami Padel Club, Flowrida Goats, San Diego Stingrays, Los Angeles Beat, Arkansas Matrix, Toronto Polar Bears, New York Atlantics, and Houston Volts.
The mission of the PPL is to create the most compelling version of padel for sports fans in North America with the new league providing the biggest stage for professional padel players across the continent. The PPL is the first of its kind, and the only professional padel league in the world, to feature team-based competition in a unique and engaging, city-based, franchise format.
For more information on the PPL, visit: https://propadelleague.com/.
About PPL:
The PPL launched in 2022 and held their historical, inaugural season in 2023 with the Las Vegas Smash winning the PPL Cup Finals. The next big thing in North American sports, padel is a high-octane sport and is a mix of tennis and squash that has become one of the fastest-growing sports in the world. The mission of the PPL is to create the most compelling version of padel for sports fans in North America with the new league providing the biggest stage for professional padel players across the continent. The PPL is the first of its kind, and the only professional padel tour in the world, to feature team-based competition in a unique and engaging, city-based, franchise format. For more information on the PPL, visit: https://propadelleague.com/.