Whenever you begin watching or playing a new sport, you want to know how much time you’re going to have to give up in order to do so. Sports that go on for way too long are less likely to be popular with the viewing public as they have to fit in with people’s private lives. A person who has a hectic family and working life probably won’t be able to dedicate multiple hours a day to watching a new sport! Similarly, a person who is thinking about starting to play a new sport is less likely to get involved if the matches they play take hours and hours to reach a conclusion!
Padel is a sport that is rapidly gaining popularity all over the world, so I guess it’s only natural that there are loads of people wondering exactly how long padel matches last! And that is exactly what I’m going to be walking you through in this post today! We’ll discuss how long an average match is, what each match consists of, and how this differs when playing in different tournaments or when different genders are involved. If any of that sounds like info you’re interested in, feel free to read on!
So, how long does a padel match last?
A padel match where 3 full length sets are played will usually last around 3 hours. However, if all 3 sets are won easily with scores such as 6-1, 6-2 & 6-3, the match could last just 2 hours. Some matches are won in ‘straight sets’ which means only 2 sets are played. These matches will usually last around 1-2 hours.
To answer this question even better, I thought I would take a look back through some padel matches that have taken place in the last few years in both the men’s and women’s game and tell you exactly how long each match lasted. I’ll also post the number of sets in the game, and the score in each set so you can see the relationship between the length of the match and how long each set goes on for! Have a look at the table below to see the results of my little investigation!
| Players Involved | Tournament | Number of Sets | Set Scores | Length of Match |
| Tapia & Lima Navarro & Di Nenno | Cervezas Victoria Málaga Open 2021 | 2 | 6-2, 7-6 | 1 hour 46 minutes |
| Brea & Icardo Triay & Salazar | Cervezas Victoria Málaga Open 2021 | 2 | 7-5, 6-2 | 1 hour 45 minutes |
| Llaguno & Riera Osoro & Iglesias | Cupra Vigo Open 2021 | 2 | 6-1, 6-3 | 1 hour 18 minutes |
| Lima & Tapia Gutierrez & Belasteguin | Cupra Vigo Open 2021 | 3 | 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 | 1 hour 55 minutes |
| Sainz & Marrero Triay & Salazar | Estrella Damm Menorca Open 2021 | 3 | 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 | 2 hours 26 minutes |
| Lebron & Galan Navarro & Di Nenno | Estrella Damm Menorca Open 2021 | 2 | 6-3, 6-4 | 1 hour 16 minutes |
| Lebron & Galan Gutierrez & Belasteguin | Estrella Damm València Open 2021 | 3 | 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 | 2 hours 6 minutes |
| Salazar & Triay Brea & Icardo | Estrella Damm València Open 2021 | 3 | 6-7, 6-1, 6-4 | 2 hours 29 minutes |
| Lebron & Galan Navarro & Lima | Cervezas Victoria Marbella Master 2020 | 3 | 7-6, 2-6, 6-3 | 2 hours 40 minutes |
| Salazar & Sanchez Josemaria & Marrero | Cervezas Victoria Marbella Master 2020 | 3 | 7-6, 4-6, 6-2 | 2 hours 23 minutes |
How Many Sets Are In A Padel Match?
As you’ll probably be able to tell from reading the sections above, the vast majority of professional padel matches are ‘best of 3 sets’ matches. This means that there is a maximum of 3 sets to be played in any one match. The first team to win 2 sets will win the match! This of course means that not every padel match will last a total of 3 sets, as it is possible for a dominant team to win the game by 2 sets to zero. So, to summarise, in the vast majority of padel matches there will be a total of 2 or 3 sets that are played.
However, in some padel tournaments, and in some amateur matchups, you may see matches that are ‘best of 5 sets’. These types of matches are admittedly a lot rarer, but they do exist! In these matches it is possible to play a maximum of 5 sets, and the first team to win 3 sets will be the winner. Therefore, these matches will last for a total of 3-5 sets.
How Long Is A Set In Padel?
Sets in padel obviously last different amounts of time depending on how many games end up being played in the set. For example, a set that is won 6-0 by one team will be much shorter than a set that is won 7-5 because the 7-5 set features double the number of games!
A full length set in padel that is won by a score of 7-6 after a tie break will last somewhere around an hour. The shortest length set, one that is won by a score of 6-0, will last close to half this amount of time at around 20-30 minutes.
Does The Length Of A Padel Match Differ By Tournament?
All of the main tournaments included within the 3 padel circuits (World Padel Tour, A1 Padel & Premier Padel) consist of ‘best of 3 sets’ matches. There are no variations to this in ant of the tournaments on those circuits.
It’s certainly possible that longer ‘best of 5 sets’ matches are played in some of the more obscure, unknown professional tournaments that exist around the world, and they will certainly be played in some amateur competitions, but in the main professional tournaments its almost always best of 3 sets!
Does The Length Of A Padel Match Differ Between Men And Women?
The major padel tournaments feature matches of the exact same length for both men and women, with both of them playing best of 3 set matches. Many people presume that the male padel players will play best of 5 set games and the women will play best of 3 sets, because this is the case in other sports such as the grand slam tournaments in tennis! However, that is not the case.
Conclusion
I hope this post has given you a good indication of how long a padel game lasts and how much of your time you’re going to have to give up in order to watch a game. In my experience, when you really love a sport, the time passes so quickly and it can feel like a 3 hour game has flown by!
If you’re new to padel and you’re still trying to figure out how the game works, I’d strongly recommend checking out some of my other posts about the sport. I’m trying to cover all sorts of questions that newcomers are likely to ask, because I remember all the stuff that I wanted to know when I started watching for the first time!