Álex Ruiz unharmed after glass pane shatters at FIP Gold San Luis

Padel came within centimetres of a tragic afternoon in Mexico. Álex Ruiz, one of the circuit's leading players in recent years, came away unharmed from a major scare: one of the court's glass walls shattered mid-semi-final at the FIP Gold San Luis, a CUPRA FIP Tour event held this week in Mexico. The player from Málaga reacted with feline speed to dodge the fragments, and fortunately neither he nor the crowd suffered any injury.

An impact that could have ended very badly

The incident happened during the semi-final that pitted Álex Ruiz and Franco Dal Bianco against Álvaro Meléndez and José Luis González. After dropping the first set 7-6 and levelling with a 6-4 second set, the match went into a decider. At 40-40, González played a lob that forced Ruiz to sprint backwards. Trying to reach the ball, the Spaniard crashed into the back glass panel in the centre of the court and the pane shattered completely.

The 'Captain America' agility to dart towards the net saved him from serious cuts. The match was eventually resumed on another court at the club, but the Spanish pair ended up missing out on a place in the final despite serving for it. Ruiz himself summed it up on social media: "The most important thing is that both the crowd and I are unharmed. Thanks to everyone for staying up and to the guys for the great match that came out of it."

A recurring problem in padel

This is not the first time something like this has happened. The best-known precedent came from Paquito Navarro in the World Padel Tour era, who went through a glass panel after a similar impact and suffered several cuts when he hit the floor. More recently, Alejandro Cañete experienced a glass break at a tournament in Sweden in which shards reached a spectator. And just a few weeks ago, a club was ordered to pay nearly €30,000 in compensation to a user for injuries caused by a similar structural failure.

Court safety, an unresolved issue

These episodes — fortunately without serious consequences — put the spotlight on facility maintenance. Quality control when installing glass panels, periodic pane inspections and rigorous supervision of every court are critical factors in preventing a rally from ending in tragedy. Elite players are demanding more guarantees, especially at tournaments held in countries where padel infrastructure is still developing.

Meanwhile, the circuit rolls on: Premier Padel resumes its calendar in the first week of September with the Madrid P1, and the padel world hopes the next big story is a title — not another scare.