Fernando Belasteguin: Sports star hits tennis ball through car’s sunroof from rooftop in ‘practically impossible shot’

World champion Padel player pulls off trick on first attempt

A sportsman pulled off "a practically impossible shot" by hitting a tennis ball through a car’s sunroof from a 120ft-high rooftop.

Fernando Belasteguín, who has topped the word-rankings in Padel for 16 years, made the trick shot from the top of an eight-story building in Barcelona.

The 40-year-old landed the ball through the 70x50cm open sunroof of a Cupra Ateca SUV parked on the street 120ft below.

Belasteguín pulled off the trick shot in Barcelona Harbour on his first attempt.

He hit the ball at a 10-degree incline and it took three seconds at a speed of more than 30mph to fall through the sunroof of the car.

“I thought I wasn’t going to leave here until I made it,” he said. “I had to hit the ball in a way I’ve never done before. I took the wind into consideration when calculating the trajectory of the ball and I got it right on the first try.

Enric Álvarez, a biophysics professor from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, described his shot as “practically impossible”.

He said: “The stroke has to be delivered with great accuracy, as from this height there is little room for error, so he must aim for the correct angle and speed with which he hits the ball. What he has achieved was truly amazing for all the difficulties it entails. It involves outstanding biomechanical control.”

Belasteguín became the youngest number one World Padel Tour player in history at the age of 22 and has remained in the top spot for 16 consecutive years.

Padel is a racquet sport that combines elements of tennis squash and tennis.

It was invented in the 1960s by a Mexican billionaire who didn’t have space for a full-size tennis court and is Europe’s fastest-growing sport.

SWNS