From Division I tennis to padel
Anna Guryanova grew up playing tennis and went on to compete at Division I level in the United States. Then she discovered padel through friends (a common theme in our Spotlight series!), and everything changed.
What started as something casual quickly became a serious pursuit – and, in her words, “ultimately, my passion”. Today, based in Budapest, she competes with a clear target in the FIP ranking and shares openly what it takes to play at that level. For a player who arrived in the sport through a social game with friends, it has been a quick and decisive switch.
In Budapest she trains with Jesuan “Pipo” Gonzalez, an Argentinian professional player and coach. She credits him with passing on the knowledge and perspective of a player who has competed at the top, and rates him as highly as a person as she does as a coach. That gratitude extends to every coach and player she has met along the way, and she tries to learn something from each of them.
Sharing the process
Her mission is to grow the sport by sharing the process behind it: the training, the discipline and the reality of competition. Rather than showing only results, she wants people to see what goes into them.
She does that through her blog, where she shares training insights, tournament experiences and what it really takes to compete professionally.
A team game
The people she meets along the way sit at the centre of it all. As she puts it: “The people I meet are both my favourite part of the journey – and my toughest challenge on court.”
On court, that challenge is partnership. Padel is played in pairs, and learning to communicate with a partner and combine their strengths has been, she says, a demanding but exciting part of her development.
She is still building her game, so she plays on both the left and the right side. It makes training harder, but it also keeps it interesting – and gives her a fuller understanding of the court.
Aiming for the FIP Top 200
Guryanova’s main goal for 2026 is clear: to reach the Top 200 in the FIP ranking and continue developing as a player.
What excites her most is the opportunity to compete more consistently and to keep improving with every tournament. At this level, consistency is what moves a player up the ranking, and a fuller schedule gives her more chances to show what the training is building towards.
Her ambitions for padel go beyond her own game. She is studying for a Master’s in Sports Management and Technology at AISTS in Lausanne, a programme backed by the International Olympic Committee and EPFL, and wants to take an active part in the sport’s growth. She hopes to see padel become an Olympic sport – ideally at the 2032 Games.
Anyone who wants to follow her journey can find her on Instagram at @annitapdel.
Tournament photos by the legendary Padelgrapher
