A new, $7 million pickleball and padel facility in Branford will mark its grand opening Saturday with an exhibition featuring professional players as well as tennis great Ivan Lendl.
A new, $7 million pickleball and padel facility in Branford will mark its grand opening Saturday with an exhibition featuring professional players as well as tennis great Ivan Lendl.
Smash Club, at 61 E. Industrial Road Branford, will host an event titled “Grand Slammers Exhibition,” featuring Lendl, a professional tennis legend who won 94 singles titles, including eight major titles.
He will participate in an exhibition match with five-time pickleball grand slam champion Tyson McGuffin and pro players Ryan Sherry and Tom Lockwood. Karl Ravech of ESPN will serve as host and emcee for the match.
The event, which begins at 4 p.m., will include a pizza truck provided by Pasta Cosi and The Rambling Inn Mobile Bar. A “meet & greet” will be held after the match from 5–7 p.m.
The new Serve & Smash facility includes 10 courts, two outdoor and eight indoor (six for pickleball & two for padel).
Padel is similar to pickleball, but is played on an enclosed court with walls, allowing for rebounds.
Serve & Smash also has a performance lab; two elevated terrace viewing areas — one indoor and one outdoor, with full-service bars and catered food; 12 TVs, including six on each indoor pickleball court; cameras on each court to correct line calls and allow for reviewing play after a game; seating areas; ping pong tables; corn hole; and a state-of-the-art sound system.
Marcos del Pilar, known as “The Godfather of Padel in the USA,” helped shape the vision and development of the Serve & Smash facility.
