The Man Who Turned Cleaning Padel Glass into a Show

He doesn’t carry a racket and you won’t find his name in the rankings. Yet José Fernández Ruiz has become one of the most recognisable faces on the professional padel circuit.
At the biggest padel tournaments in the world, the spotlight is usually on the players. But between sets and matches, one man has managed to turn an apparently ordinary job into part of the show.
His name is José Fernández Ruiz, although most padel fans simply know him as José “The Best”.
For more than a decade, José has been responsible for keeping the glass walls of professional padel courts spotless. What began as a straightforward cleaning job has gradually evolved into something completely different: a high-speed performance combining technique, humour, music and an unmistakable connection with the crowd.
Today, when José steps onto court with his cleaning equipment, spectators usually know exactly what is about to happen.
It All Started with a Simple Job
José’s story in professional padel began around ten years ago, long before the sport reached the international scale it enjoys today.
“I started cleaning the glass around ten years ago, when I first got involved in the world of padel,” he recalls. “Back then, the sport was nowhere near as popular as it is today.”
In those early days, cleaning the court glass was a very different job. Usually, it was done just once a day — enough to keep the court looking presentable. There were fewer spectators, fewer television cameras and far less media attention surrounding professional tournaments.
But padel started to grow. More spectators arrived. Television coverage expanded. Photographers and cameras began surrounding the courts, capturing every point from increasingly sophisticated angles.
And suddenly, having perfectly clean glass became much more important.
What had once been a background maintenance task became an essential part of preparing a professional court. José had to adapt. He began developing techniques that allowed him to cover the large glass surfaces more efficiently, moving quickly around the 20 x 10-metre court while making sure every panel remained spotless.
Speed became part of the job.
And then, almost by accident, it became part of the show.
The Moment Everything Changed
There was no marketing strategy behind José “The Best”. No carefully designed character. No plan to become famous.
According to José, everything changed during one particular tournament, when he was asked to step onto court and clean the glass as quickly as possible.
That was exactly what he did.
But then something unexpected happened.
The crowd started applauding. Then came the cheers and encouragement.
José realised that thousands of spectators were no longer simply waiting for him to finish so the padel could resume.
They were actually watching him.
That reaction gave him an idea. If he had to clean the glass anyway, why not make those few minutes entertaining?
What followed developed naturally. Faster movements, interaction with the stands, music, gestures and increasingly elaborate routines gradually became part of his appearances.
Cleaning the court had become a performance.
From Cleaner to Crowd Favourite
Over the years, José refined his technique and developed the personality that padel fans now recognise immediately.
The entertainment, however, remains secondary to the job itself.
The glass still has to be spotless.
At today’s professional tournaments, that can mean cleaning between matches, between sets or whenever requested by players, photographers or tournament organisers.
José has simply found a way of doing that job while giving the crowd something extra.
As a result, his appearances have become one of those small traditions that make attending a professional padel tournament different from simply watching one on television.
The moment he walks onto court, phones appear in the stands. People start filming. They applaud. They follow his movements around the glass.
And increasingly, they know his name.
Who Called Him ‘The Best’?
Interestingly, José did not choose the nickname himself.
He has explained that a colleague responsible for tournament accreditations came up with the name “José The Best”. At first, José thought it sounded a little too self-confident.
But the name stuck.
Over time, it became his identity within professional padel.
Today, the nickname follows him around the circuit and across social media, where his performances have helped turn a member of the tournament operations team into a genuine personality within the sport.
His Instagram account, @josethebest_limpia_cristales, captures exactly what makes him different: cleaning padel courts, but rarely doing it in an ordinary way.
A Reflection of Padel’s Transformation
José’s story is also, in its own way, the story of just how much professional padel has changed.
When he started, cleaning the glass once a day was enough.
Today, the biggest padel events are sophisticated international productions, surrounded by television crews, photographers, sponsors and thousands of spectators.
Every detail matters.
Even the glass.
And somewhere along the way, José managed to turn one of those details into entertainment.
He doesn’t hit bandejas. He doesn’t smash the ball out of the court. He doesn’t have a ranking.
But when José “The Best” walks onto a padel court with a glass cleaner in his hands, thousands of people can suddenly start cheering.
Not bad for a job that was originally supposed to go completely unnoticed.