Pro Pickleball Player Dragged By Andy Roddick And Nick Kyrgios For Claiming It Requires More Skill Than Tennis

The Pickleball Industrial Complex has spent years attempting to position the activity as a Real Sport to varying degrees of success, but one guy who’s managed to turn the pastime into a living went a bit too far with a bold claim that led to a number of notable tennis players putting him in his place.

Before we dive into things, I would like to make it clear I have nothing against pickleball, which, by most accounts, is a pretty enjoyable recreational activity a ton of people have harnessed as a way to stay in shape.

With that said, it’s been pretty hard not to be baffled by the incredibly concerted effort to position pickleball as The Next Big Thing in the world of professional sports.

In recent years, a number of celebrities have invested in pickleball leagues—like the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA), which has managed to earn a broadcast deal with ESPN—but it’s very hard for me to grasp the viewing appeal of a sport that seems to revolve around people casually hitting a ball back and forth over a net while making sure they don’t step too aggressively in the process.

I’m obviously not going to knock anyone who’s good enough at pickleball to get paid to play it professionally, a group that includes the PPA’s Christian Alshon, who was a Division III tennis champion at the University of Chicago before he decided to pivot to pickleball in 2021.

Earlier this week, the 23-year-old hopped online to discuss that transition in a tweet where he credited pickleball for making him a “much better athlete than tennis ever did.” That claim might be true, but it’s very hard to argue the same can be said about the one he put forth when he capped off his post by avowing “pickleball requires more skill than tennis.”

It didn’t take long for that tweet to come to the attention of some guys who know a thing or two about tennis—like Nick Kyrgios, who implied Alshon had been hitting the bottle before he hit “Send.”

Yeah. Let’s hide under the bed after this statement hahahaha bro get me the best pickleball player and compare his talent to Roger Federer. Wild tweet, wild thought. Delete right now 😂 I love pickle. But you had too many tequilas 😵

— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) April 2, 2024

James Blake and Andy Roddick also decided to get in on the action by throwing some shade his way.

I think that settles that.