Fernando “Bela” Belasteguin

When it comes to Padel, they don’t make players much better than Fernando “Bela” Belasteguin.

Born in Argentina in 1979, the record-breaking player now resides in Barcelona Spain.

Bela was once the youngest player to hold a World No. 1 title at just 22 years old, but now age 43 the legendary Bela plays the backhand position in pairs with Sanyo Gutiérrez.

Now let’s just up the anti and tell you how good this guy is, he has been Padel World Champion for 16 years (2002-2018) and winner of 223 out of 273 finals played.

It all began for Bela back in 1990 where aged 11 he starts to play Padel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, at the Club Atlético Gral.

In the following 11 years Bela would undertake a sporting journey that begins to peak in 2001 with the Argentine reaching an unbeaten record, winning 22 consecutive tournaments in 1 year and 9 months.

Alongside his partner Juan Martín Díaz, Bela won all 17 of the tournaments he played.

This impressive feet resulted in the pair becoming the most awarded couple in the history of Padel and kings of the professional circuit.

In 2016, Bela reached 15 consecutive years of being No. 1 on the World Padel Tour ranking.

The 2019 season started with Bela playing alongside Pablo Lima, however in the middle of the season Augustín Tapia became his new sports partner.

After swapping partners the duo had a successful run achieving victory in the “Madrid Masters” and the final “Master Final”.

Currently playing paired with Sanyo Gutíerrez. Bela is once again aiming for the title and proved his ambitions winning this year’s first stop of the World Padel Tour.

Bela, now in the twilight of his career isn’t thinking about retirement just yet and despite setting up his very own Bela Padel Centre, insists he has plenty left in the tank. 

If you’re looking to find a court local to you, our list might be of some help. You can also find out more about the sport here.