Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero participate in padel! Esports team backed by Argentine legends follows Andy Murray, Robert Lewandowski and Rafael Nadal to the Hexagon Cup

After the success of the first edition, the Hexagon Cup – a revolutionary padel tournament supported by high-profile sports heroes such as Rafael Nadal, Robert Lewandowski and Andy Murray – returns with a star-studded addition.

Padel is a racket sport that is becoming extremely popular worldwide, with an estimated 25 million active players worldwide.

Since securing the support of DMG Ventures, the first Hexagon Cup has successfully attracted the very best international padel players to compete in six teams.

The second edition, which will take place between January 29 and February 2, 2025, will feature a seventh team consisting of number four Federico Chingotto and 13th seed Claudia Jensen of Kru Padel of Taktika.

The outfit looking to shake things up at the next tournament at the Madrid Arena is a sports division of Kru Esports, owned by Lionel Messi and his former Argentina teammate Sergio Aguero.

Kru Padel, a sports division of the esports team of Lionel Messi (right) and Sergio Aguero (left), will compete in the Hexagon Cup next year

The first edition of the tournament took place in Madrid earlier this year and turned out to be a bull’s eye

Several high-profile stars, including Eva Longoria (pictured), entered teams in the opening tournament

Federico Chingotto and Claudia Jensen will compete in the men’s and women’s tournaments, with their partners to be determined in a draft later this year

The groundbreaking format will see the franchise teams – made up of three pairs in the Male, Female and Next Gen categories – initially compete in a round robin qualification before competing for the title.

“We are incredibly excited to expand Kru into such a dynamic sport as padel, especially alongside Taktika Padel.” Aguero said this in a statement.

“Hexagon is a platform that takes this sport to another level, and we are here to compete and do our best. The names that strengthen our team, including two outstanding Argentinians, speak for themselves: talented players that we are proud of, and we are happy to support their professional development.

“This project is a new way to bring Kru’s values ​​to a wider audience, and we are highly motivated by this challenge. We are confident that Kru Padel will seize this opportunity.”

Aguero launched KRU Esports in 2020 and played competitively against FIFA, Rocket League, League of Legends and Valorant with impressive results. Messi was obviously impressed by what he saw and was convinced to join Aguero as co-owner in 2023.

Partners for Chingotto and Jensen, as well as a Next Gen roster, will be selected in a draft taking place next month or early November.

Launched with the slogan ‘For the fans, for the players, for the game’, the Hexagon Cup has eagerly placed spectators at the forefront of their planning, with live music, entertainers and padel experiences accompanying the sporting action.

Sergio Aguero KRU Esports in 2020 before bringing Messi on as co-owner in November 2023

Andy Murray’s AD/vantage team claimed the men’s and women’s titles in the first match

Earlier this year, Martin Di Nenno and Juan Tello of Murray’s AD/vantage Team became the first men’s winners, while it was a senior sweep for the three-time Grand Slam winner as his squad – including Alejandra Salazar and Tamara Icardo – secured the women’s title.

Lewandowski was also in action, with his team of David Gala and Enzo Jensen prevailing in the Next Gen category.