The 2023 edition of Milan Premier Padel P1 closes the season, but opens a new era. From December Monday 4th to Sunday 10th December, the Allianz Cloud welcomes the world’s best players – the women’s draw is this year’s new entry – in the last stage of the Premier Padel circuit, which 12 months ago brought 27,0000 fans to watch a great show. The entry list is very rich: in the men’s draw, there will be 28 of the top 30 players in the FIP ranking, International Padel Federation, while in the women’s draw there will be 27 Top 30 players on court. The tournament, which starts on Saturday December 2nd with the qualifiers – at 1.30 p.m., at Spazio Lenovo, the draw for the main draw will take place – was presented at Palazzo Marino, the home of the Milan City Council, a highly symbolic choice for a city that, for a week, will be the ‘home of padel’ worldwide.
RIVA «Premier Padel P1, for Milan, is still a novelty but it is already a habit – the words of the Councillor for Sport, Tourism and Youth Policies of the Municipality of Milan, Martina Riva –. In these months the wait in the city has been felt: we have believed in it and worked on it. Milan has understood the value of an event that last year brought 27,000 people to the Allianz Cloud and is ready to welcome the tournament again, moreover in a municipal facility, the Allianz Cloud, managed in the best way by Milanosport. I’m so happy that this year the tournament will be enriched by the strongest female players in the world: Milan, in this sense, has invested a lot in women’s sport, from basketball to volleyball, up to the arrival of the Inter women’s team at the Arena Civica. With the organisers and the FIP there has been synergy from the very beginning: Premier Padel is a celebration, because padel is a sport that can be understood by everyone and can get even the most sedentary people off the couch».
CARRARO A new era, it was said. Padel, from 2024, will have one circuit and one ranking, the culmination of work carried out by the International Padel Federation. «An extraordinary 2023 is coming to a close, in which we acquired the World Padel Tour, something we were very keen on – explained FIP President Luigi Carraro –. We wanted to do this for the players, who had started this Premier Padel adventure with us, but also for the fans. We believe that a sport should have only one reference circuit and only one ranking. So many sports are fragmenting: we, in padel, in 18 months have managed to unify and create a single circuit governed by the International Federation and supported by the best investment fund we could find on our way, Qatar Sports Investments, with the support of the players’ association. The single ranking that will come into effect in 2024 will be easy for everyone to understand and consult and we will also unveil the tournament calendar very soon. We are happy to be back in Milan: every time you come here, you see something new. And, as a confirmation of what an impressive city Milan is, all the best players in the world are coming here with their families, which shows how much they like this city. We will also be lucky to see the female players: we wanted to, we promised and we won this bet. Last year you enjoyed seeing the players play, this year you will see the girls play and it will be something unique. We have the attention of the whole world, with 187 countries that will broadcast the tournament, in a venue that may not be the biggest but is certainly the most beautiful. I would like to thank the Italian Tennis and Padel Federation, Sport e Salute, the Municipality of Milan, the Regione Lombardia, and the Ministry of Sport and Youths with its two departments, Sport and Youths, which have supported and backed this event, confirming its importance». Speaking of young people, Carta Giovani holders will have access to a unique opportunity, with 500 free tickets for each session of the main draw from December 4th to 6th, which can be collected at the Spazio Lenovo in Corso Giacomo Matteotti 10 in Milan by presenting the Card and a valid ID.
The best young players on the world padel scene have played in last weeks in Asuncion (Paraguay), the venue of the Junior World Championships, an event that marked a crucial moment for the movement. «This tournament makes me look to the future with great confidence – continued Carraro –. In Milan we have the best players, but in Paraguay we saw the technical and participation level of the next gen of padel, which is increasingly becoming a global sport. Spain and Argentina are still leaders, but the fact that in Paraguay it was Sweden who reached a final makes it clear that there are many nations that are emerging at a high level».
AREF «We are a big family and we have all worked together to come back to Milan – said Adel Aref, Premier Padel Tour Director –. It’s fantastic to be here again, with so many new features compared to the last edition, above all the presence of the women’s draw. I thank Milan and Martina Riva for their work, I thank Luigi Carraro and the International Padel Federation: thank you all for believing in us and in padel. Enjoy this week!».
GAMBERALE Milano Premier Padel P1 will be an unmissable event inside and outside the Allianz Cloud, with a commercial village featuring all the world’s best padel-related brands and more. There will also be a large food court with food trucks. All designed to allow guests to spend an entire day at the Allianz Cloud between great padel matches, technical tests with the most innovative sports equipment, shopping and food experiences. «Building an event like this is not easy, but having the institutions alongside makes everything more accessible – underlined Marco Gamberale, CEO of NSA Group and organisational head of the event –. The show will focus on the fans and we have worked to create an immersive atmosphere between padel and entertainment. Following this philosophy, we have created the commercial area all around the Allianz Cloud, so that the moment of escape from the sports show will be immediate, in between matches, for a day of high intensity padel. We are honoured to have so many prestigious partners at our side, this helps us to plan for the future, which shows encouraging prospects: provisional data from the ticket office say that we are heading towards an increase in sales of around 10% compared to last year. The objective? To have 30,000 fans at the Allianz Cloud».
THE PLAYERS The world’s best female players will be on court for the first time in Milan and, among them, there will be the three winning pairs of the three Premiers played so far at women’s level: from Paula Josemaria and Ari Sanchez, queens in Paris and the number one pair in the FIP ranking, to Marta Ortega and Gemma Triay (No. 2) who triumphed in Rome in the first ‘combined’ tournament in Premier Padel history, Delfina Brea (7) and Bea Gonzalez (5) who won in Madrid. In the men’s draw, too, the top of the discipline: from Arturo Coello – number 1 in the FIP ranking – and Agustin Tapia (6), winners of the last four Premier Padel stages (Rome, Madrid, Mendoza and Paris) to Juan Lebron and Ale Galan, the defending champions and number 2 in the world ranking. And again, Franco Stupaczuk (7) and Martin Di Nenno (4), Fede Chingotto (8) and idol ‘Paquito’ Navarro (5), up to ‘Leyenda’ Fernando Belasteguin (9), who paired with Mike Yanguas involves more than two generations of padelists. And it doesn’t end here because in the great Milanese sports show of the Premier Padel circuit – supported by PPA and IPPA, the associations of players and players respectively – there will be all the best players of the FIP ranking, which can be consulted at the links: https://www.padelfip.com/ranking-male/ for the men’s draw and https://www.padelfip.com/ranking-female/ for the women’s one.
THE INSTITUTIONS The Milano Premier Padel P1 is realised, on the instructions of the Minister for Sport and Youths, also thanks to the contribution of the Department for Sport-Presidency of the Council of Ministers, and the Department for Youth Policies and Universal Civil Service, and can count on the patronage of the Municipality of Milan and the Regione Lombardia.
PARTNERS Wilson is the Official Equipment Partner, Banca Mediolanum, Frecciarossa, Motorola and Plenitude are the Main Partners of the Milano Premier Padel P1 2023. Cupra, Decathlon, Snaifun, Swag are the Official Partners, Powerade the Official Pause Partner, Lete is the Official Water, Philips is the Official Bench Partner, Reaxing is the Official Training Partner, Italgreen the Official Turf, MejorSet the Official Court, NTT DATA the Official Supplier, Corriere dello Sport, Sky Sport and Urban Vision the Media Partners), RTL 102.5 the Official Radio, Circularity and Haiki the Circularity Suppliers. Istituto per il Credito Sportivo and Carta Giovani Nazionale are also the event’s Institutional Partner.
TICKETING On the Ticketone portal (https://sport.ticketone.it/search?text=milano), tickets for the Milan Premier Padel P1 are on sale, divided by playing session: for the first time in the Premier Padel circuit, thanks to the revolutionary YourSeats360 technology, it will be possible to purchase tickets by choosing your seat in ‘immersive’ mode, having an exact view of the court from your seat. FITP (Italian Tennis and Padel Federation) members will also be able to take advantage of a 20% discount: all info on times and prices are available on Ticketone and on the official website www.milanopremierpadel.com.
THE VENUE The Milan Premier Padel P1 will be staged on the centre court set up at the Allianz Cloud, with a capacity of 5,500 seats, sold out on the weekend days of the 2022 tournament. There will be two separate sessions scheduled each day at the Allianz for the two draws – with the exception of Monday, when play will begin from 10 a.m. –: the morning and afternoon one. All schedule is available on the tournament’s official website, www.milanopremierpadel.com.
SUSTAINABILITY PROJECTS In order to implement concrete proposals to reduce the environmental impact of the events, for the second year in a row there will be initiatives related to the theme of sustainability. Eco-compactors with waste separation and compaction systems will be installed, with volume reduction of up to 90% for the correct management of the collection and recycling of PET from the consumption of plastic bottles.