Padel gives ex-tennis player a second chance

Enzo Chua never expected to return to competitive sports after a lower back injury at 16 scuppered the former national junior tennis player's dreams of turning professional.

- Kimberly Kwek

But nine years later, the 25-year-old is back on court – this time as a padel player.

Said the tennis coach: “When I was younger I wanted to be a pro tennis player, so that dream was gone. After that I didn't think I would become a professional player again, but now with padel, it's like a second opportunity...

“It was really unexpected.”

Even his foray into padel - a mix between tennis and squash which is often played on an enclosed doubles court - was serendipitous.

Towards the end of 2023, Chua tried playing padel for fun and immediately got hooked. While it had some similarities to tennis, the ability to play the ball off the walls of the court added an exhilarating dimension.

He said: “You have a lot of net play, smashing, volleying, but then you have the new challenge, for tennis players especially, to understand how to use the wall.”

He recalled how his “lungs were on fire” after two sets of a drill in one of the first few sessions, as he was not used to the intensity and short bursts of the game.