Once a top-ranked junior tennis player, Miami-based entrepreneur Wayne Boich has spent decades moving fluidly between sport, business and design. With Reserve, he&rsquo;s bringing a new kind of court culture to life - where padel meets architecture, atmosphere and the art of connection.

The scent of salt and citrus hangs in the air as the Mediterranean laps at the edges of a late Ibizan afternoon. Wayne Boich leans back casually in his chair at Casa <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reservepadel/">Reserve</a>, a private villa estate perched high above the sea on the island&rsquo;s northeast coast, where the sound of padel balls echoes in the background. With clubs in Miami and New York and an exhibition tournament underway in Ibiza - curated by island lynchpin <a href="https://www.instagram.com/romanfortunato.personal/?hl=en">Roman Fortunato</a> - Boich has become one of the central forces behind padel's rapid ascension in the United States. Yet the story begins long before Reserve became a byword for elite, curated sport.
"I got into the game in 2013," he says, with his trademark, easy smile. "Back then, no one in the U.S. really knew what padel was. I started playing a lot, and in 2014, I went to Spain. Because of my tennis background, I was immediately intrigued."
Flash back a couple of decades and Wayne Boich was one of the top junior tennis players in the world. Sport was his first language. &ldquo;From the age of eight to twenty, I played four hours a day. Tennis shaped who I am. So, to have something years later - padel - that brought me back into that rhythm, that athleticism, was incredibly powerful.&rdquo;
It was in Mallorca, playing against the pros, that the sport fully revealed itself. "We were playing every day. That&rsquo;s when we really understood what an athletic, strategic, dynamic sport padel is."

"Tennis shaped who I am. So, to have something years later &ndash; padel &ndash; that brought me back into that rhythm, that athleticism, was incredibly powerful.&rdquo;

A longtime Miami Beach resident, Boich is married with three children. He&rsquo;s fanatical about the city&rsquo;s potential and status: &ldquo;Miami in general attracts people who are outdoorsy, athletic, wealthy and connected, but don't want to just sit still for rest of their lives. The climate, the culture, the incredibly improved art scene - Art Basel changed Miami and its growth.&rdquo; Indeed, Boich&rsquo;s own annual Art Basel parties are a fixture on the city&rsquo;s cultural calendar. Boich began hosting casual exhibitions, flying in professionals from Europe to play friendly matches in his backyard. "Nobody knew what padel was," he says, "but everyone who tried it said the same thing. It&rsquo;s athletic, it&rsquo;s social and it pulls you in. When you watch, you feel like you&rsquo;re part of the game. The demographic went from 90% men to 50/50 men and women almost immediately.&rdquo;
The blend of physicality and accessibility was magnetic. Unlike tennis, where players are often isolated, or golf, which can be slower and more meditative, padel offers an immediacy, a rush of camaraderie. "You feel competitive quickly. It&rsquo;s easy to feel good about your game," Boich laughs.
Despite a thriving career in energy and real estate, Boich&rsquo;s attention increasingly turned to the sport. "I never thought I&rsquo;d allocate the time to start a padel business, but in 2022, I co-hosted a tournament in Miami and something clicked. I realised we could do more than just build clubs - we could build a brand off the back of this sport."
That brand became <a href="https://www.reservepadel.com">Reserve.</a> Boich and his team didn&rsquo;t rush. "We didn&rsquo;t want to do 50 padel clubs just to do them. We wanted to open a few, in the right places, with the right energy. Events, design, membership &ndash; all of it had to feel curated, elevated. Like a mix between a private athletic club and a fashion house."

&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t want to do 50 padel clubs just to do them. We wanted to open a few, in the right places, with the right energy. Events, design, membership &ndash; all of it had to feel curated, elevated. Like a mix between a private athletic club and a fashion house.&rdquo;

At its core, Reserve is a brand born of padel but shaped by something broader: culture. The clubs attract a striking mix - Olympians, celebrities, entrepreneurs, actors, musicians - all drawn to Boich&rsquo;s easy magnetism and the sport&rsquo;s balance of edge and elegance. &ldquo;People started travelling with us. New York, Miami, now Ibiza. They wanted to be part of something that moved.&rdquo;
This itinerant spirit - equal parts polo circuit and tennis pro tour - has defined Reserve&rsquo;s cultural positioning. "We host Pro-Am events in places like Ibiza, often alongside longtime friends and collaborators. We&rsquo;ve also just done the Coastal Classic here this summer, (with <a href="https://www.instagram.com/elchiringuito_ibiza/?hl=en">El Chiringuito</a> restaurateur Jonathan Thorogood) and we&rsquo;re looking to branch out further into Europe. It&rsquo;s great to see people engaging not just with the sport, but with each other, in beautiful places."
It&rsquo;s easy to see why Reserve is often likened to the <a href="https://www.lofficielibiza.com/ibiza/soho-house-ibiza-cas-gasi-soho-farmhouse-to-open-in-ibiza-in-spring-2025">Soho House</a> of padel. The comparison makes sense: exclusive yet unpretentious, design-forward, globally nomadic. "Sure, people call us that. I don&rsquo;t know if it&rsquo;s accurate," Boich says, "but I do know we&rsquo;ve created an ecosystem of members who don&rsquo;t just play at their local club. They travel with us. They see padel as part of their lifestyle."

That lifestyle extends into the brand&rsquo;s growing fashion and merchandise business. "We&rsquo;re very focused on design. We&rsquo;re launching limited-edition bags, only 150 of them. Our hats, our apparel - people want to wear the brand. It means something."
The curation is relentless. "We're not looking to do everything for everyone. We're not mass-market. We want to be specific, intentional. Whether it's clubs, gear, wellness or something broader - Reserve will always be about an elevated experience."
Boich is clear-eyed about the global potential. "We didn&rsquo;t create the global boom in padel," he says. "But we certainly accelerated its growth in the U.S. Without Reserve, it would have come more slowly, probably through gyms and more generic facilities. I think perhaps we were fortunate to be in a position where were able to create something deeper, faster and more culturally significant."
His own network has played a significant role. As a businessman with longstanding ties to both celebrity culture and professional sports, Boich has long moved in rarefied circles. The success of Reserve lies partly in that web - bringing together former athletes, artists, financiers and tastemakers into a shared, kinetic space. Miami was the obvious launch point. "It&rsquo;s a global city now. Art, food, wellness, sport - it&rsquo;s all converging. Messi, the Heat, the Dolphins - there&rsquo;s a constant buzz. It made sense."
Now, the expansion is inevitable but deliberate. Three clubs in Miami. Two in New York. More planned overseas. And with Reserve Cup - the brand&rsquo;s pro tournament series - the international footprint will only deepen.
"Eventually, we may go into wellness, residences, who knows," Boich says. "Reserve isn&rsquo;t just a padel brand. It&rsquo;s a lifestyle brand with athletic roots."
And is his passion for padel now greater than for his original career?
"I&rsquo;ve always loved deals, loved action. That won&rsquo;t change. But padel is different. It brought me back to my youth. It gave me something I never thought I&rsquo;d find again: a sport I love, a business I believe in and a community that inspires me."

&ldquo;Padel is different. It brought me back to my youth. It gave me something I never thought I&rsquo;d find again: a sport I love, a business I believe in and a community that inspires me.&rdquo;

As the sun slips below the cliffs, the sound of play continues. Boich&rsquo;s eight-year-old son is sat courtside, wearing the effortlessly slouchy garb only the son of a professional sportsman could pull off. A bona fide &lsquo;mini-Boich&rsquo;, he&rsquo;s commentating fluidly from the sidelines as Juan Mart&iacute;n D&iacute;az &ndash; the original padel GOAT &ndash; rallies with world number one Arturo Coello and ex-pro-basketball player turned-DC-10 DJ Rony Seikaly. At one point, the Ibiza-based Patagonian fashion pioneer Marcelo Burlon hops on court, barefoot in striped gaucho pants. The crowd roars. Boich watches, quietly, intently, sunglasses in place, Reserve cap pulled low and white linen shirt just the right side of undone. As Ibiza&rsquo;s smartest set sip Gin Smashes at the sideline bar, it&rsquo;s not hard to see that we might just be witnessing a new era of sport on the island.&nbsp;

Court Culture: Wayne Boich and the Rise of Padel’s New Elite

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