Becoming the Data Bank for the world’s fastest-growing sport

11th January

Written By Harry Benyon

Interview with Vianney Dubois, Founder of Padel Intelligence, who aims to use data to help padel grow into a truly global mainstream sport.

Data analytics is a hot topic across all sports, whether it’s to aid player performance or gain a better understanding of the business side of the industry. With padel’s birth stemming back to 1969, it’s a relatively young sport and still very much in its start-up phase across most of the world. As the sport continues its development, data analytics will surely play a crucial role in the sport’s growth both on and off the court. 

To explore the topic further, Padel 22 recently caught up with Vianney Dubois, Founder of Padel Intelligence, a company dedicated to becoming the data bank of padel. 

How did you get into data analytics?

My academic and professional backgrounds are in finance, and I have worked with statistics and data all my life. But my love for data really becomes a passion when it’s related to sport.

When did you start looking at padel as an opportunity for data capture?

It was only last year really, and I only started looking into it out of frustration with my own game… or with that of my partner! The absence of any objective way to measure our respective contribution was annoying. When I realised that the top professional players had no more tools than me, I started thinking that perhaps there was a real opportunity, which led to the creation of Padel Intelligence.

In recent years data analysis has become a huge part of professional sport, helping athletes gain an advantage over their opponents. In padel, at a professional level, how much data can players access? Is it a large part of their match preparations? 

At the professional level there are very talented coaches who know all the top players very well and can adjust the tactical advice to fit specific opponents. So, there is data, but very little objective data.

Are you working directly with any professional players or coaches?

I work with a few, yes. Pablo Crosetti, coach of Agustin Tapia has been the most avid user of my Match Reports. And in return, I have been very fortunate to receive very positive feedback, encouragement and help from a few coaches and experts in the sport. In fact, the App has grown from their advice. Pablo Crosetti, Pablo Ayma, Oriol Moyes, Jorge de Benito have all helped Padel Intelligence improve.

credit - Padel Intelligence

Unlike in tennis, pro padel players are allowed to speak to their coaches at change of ends. Do you see an opportunity for the use of data during matches, giving players real-time insight to help gain the edge over their opponents?

There will be an opportunity for sure. Tactical information such as Direction of Play and Pace of Play and relating these to percentage points won can give real insights and allow near real-time adjustments. But, up until now, on the World Padel Tour (WPT) at least, coaches are not allowed any electronic device during the game. I am hoping that this rule will evolve as data becomes more widely available.

Based on statistics, which pairs are you most looking forward to watching in the 2023 season and why?

I find the cross-over reshuffle of the Bela-Coello and Tapia-Gutierrez pairs intriguing and exciting. In my opinion, Coello and Tapia have statistically been the best two players this season, behind “King Galan”. But Coello has benefited from a lot of freedom on the court from Bela who let him take the smash from anywhere. I am not sure that Tapia will be as generous in the sharing of attacking opportunities.

Conversely, Bela and Sanyo have both held similar roles with an attacking partner. How they manage to add the attacking energy in the pair is going to be exciting to watch. The recent success of the Chingotto-Di Nenno association adds to the excitement.

As the sport continues to grow worldwide, there are more people watching the matches both online and on TV. At Padel Intelligence do you work with broadcasters and commentators to improve the viewing experience for fans?  

Yes, we do. In fact, commentators have been the first users of our data. Their reaction has been immediately positive. In the words of Marcel Bogaart, “Mister Padel” here in the Netherlands: “This is a revolution in Padel Commentating!”.

But perhaps more telling, I had a conversation with an avid spectator of padel once, who was sharing his impression that the quality of padel commentating on Dutch TV had suddenly improved with very timely insights and analysis… and he had no idea when talking to me that I had anything to do with it.

What’s your overall ambition and aim for Padel Intelligence?

We want to become the Data Bank of Padel and contribute to its development into a truly global mainstream sport:

-        Give players new keys to measure their talent and improve their performance

-        Help viewers understand and engage more with Padel

-        Enable new streams of revenues (gamification, fan engagement, betting, targeted marketing) that are heavily dependent on the availability of data.