Padel is no longer just a fast-growing sport. Across the world, it’s becoming an increasingly luxurious lifestyle environment of its own: a social and highly brandable recreational activity that’s edging closer to the same aspirational country-club culture that tennis has represented for generations. Padel, in other words, is developing into a whole new sport aesthetic that we may have seen before.

With Audemars Piguet’s latest move into this world, we’re looking at a partnership that pushes the sport further up the luxury ladder. Earlier in May, AP announced a global partnership as the Official Timekeeper of the Qatar Airways Premier Padel Tour, alongside a new relationship with Agustín Tapia, padel’s current world number one player.

AP announced a global partnership as the Official Timekeeper of the Qatar Airways Premier Padel Tour

Padel’s Luxury Landscape

AP is not the first watch brand to notice padel, though. Hublot welcomed Alejandro Galán, then holding the padel world number one title, as Friend of the Brand in 2022. Richard Mille soon followed in 2023 with Fernando Belasteguín, one of the GOATs of the sport and a player who spent 16 consecutive years as world number one. Earlier this year, Rolex welcomed Arturo Coello to its sports family, while Frédérique Constant became the Official Timekeeper and Official Watch of the North American Pro Padel League.

It’s not just the watchmakers that are paying attention. Padel is also being styled and merchandized into specific luxury clubs and community cultures: from Lamborghini’s tie-up with Babolat for its own racket to Prada’s Re-Nylon racket, and the streetwear-affiliated Kith Ivy, a padel private members’ club space in New York’s West Village. The message of its status is clear and people want to be seen playing it.

For AP, the appeal of padel is beyond just courtside visibility. The house is no stranger to racket sports, having maintained a long relationship with Serena Williams. But tennis itself has long been visually and institutionally associated with the crown, from the iconic Wimbledon, now expanded to the other Grand Slam circuits, to its green-and-gold motifs on court, and even the country-club aesthetics at large.

As the Official Timekeeper, AP will appear through dedicated court clocks and selected branded elements throughout the tournament environments

Padel offers a different kind of opening for AP. It is social by nature: usually played in pairs and often found in relaxed lifestyle settings where brands increasingly want to meet their communities. In the announcement, Audemars Piguet CEO Ilaria Resta described padel as a space shaped by inclusion, teamwork and talent, adding that it creates a fun shared space for the brand’s community.

AP’s Play for the Padel Court

Founded by Qatar Sports Investments in partnership with the International Padel Federation, the Qatar Airways Premier Padel Tour brings together leading male and female players across major venues worldwide. For its 2026 season, it now spans 25 tournaments across 17 countries, with broadcasts reached across more than 244 territories. As the Official Timekeeper, AP will appear through dedicated court clocks and selected branded elements throughout the tournament environments. Beyond the professional circuit, AP also plans to extend the partnership through pro-am formats and a network of club partnerships in regions where padel has become part of the local lifestyle.

AP announced a new relationship with Agustín Tapia, padel’s current world number one player

And with Tapia now strapped in with AP, it gives this partnership its sporting center of gravity. Born in Catamarca, Argentina, carrying the very cool nickname “The Mozart of Catamarca”, he is one of padel’s defining players with more than 30 professional titles and a win rate of over 90 percent. Tapia described the partnership as one rooted in time and performance, and at the elite level, fitting naturally within AP’s wider sporting multiverse. These include the names of Aryna Sabalenka, Antoine Dupont, Simone Biles, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and of course, Serena Williams.

Padel does not yet have tennis’s heritage. It’s still being shaped, its audience is still expanding, and its luxury identity is still open for brands to help define. With AP now stepping in alongside Premier Padel and Tapia, watchmaking is watching the sport grow and making sure it has a place on court.