New Zealand don't want to be directly opposite Spain (in paddle tennis).

Geographically, New Zealand and Spain have always been at opposite ends of the spectrum. There is no doubt or possible dispute about this: an indisputable situation. But everything can't be so far away, even if Spain is now the center of the world padelistic International, the heart of the sport, New Zealanders prefer to follow the example of their Australian neighbors and approach the metropolis, avoiding putting themselves too far away.

From the beginning, Victoria Margula, Swedish by birth and professionally trained in the US, is the head of a national federation that has had no players until now. “Because there are no courts in the country to practice, but there are already two clubs, and in Auckland alone we already have more than 200 people signed up,” replies this communication specialist via email, who is at least from New Zealand. Six players “train and play tennis-paddle professionally in several countries”. He affirms that he has proposed to join the FIP in 2021 and that the international federation has accepted his incorporation in 2022. He is happy that he already has two clubs with regulation courts in Auckland, and the first tournament, which opened at the end of October, had the honor of playing the first match for actress Lucy Lawless, who plays the attractive warrior Xena. Victoria promises a third will open in Albany in the coming weeks in February, where the tracks will already be in place to organize local races with Neville Beck as technical director. .”

New Zealand is more or less following Australia's model, where paddle tennis started in 2016 and currently has 40 clubs across the country.In fact the official FIP tournament started in 2024, With the Sydney matches (wins for Spain's Neria Santana and Patricia Calderaro) now in Melbourne. In Australia, paddle tennis is under the umbrella of the Tennis Federation Appointed Pat Rafter (51) as paddle tennis ambassador across the country.