Tennis vs Pickleball: What Nick Kyrgios, Andy Roddick, Serena Williams’ ex-coach, Kim Clijsters, others said after controversial claim by pickleballer

Christian Alshon, a pickleball player, caused a stir with his provocative statement comparing the difficulty of pickleball to that of tennis. This statement has received harsh criticism from top tennis players such as Andy Roddick, Nick Kyrgios, Jessica Pegula, and numerous others.

Alshon recently shared on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, on April 2nd, that pickleball has greatly enhanced his athleticism compared to playing tennis. He emphasized that the former demands a greater level of skill and technique, while also requiring faster reaction time and quickness.

“Pickleball has made me a much better athlete than Tennis ever did. Faster reaction time and speed are needed since the ball is only coming from 10 feet away. Point for point, pickleball requires more skill than tennis,”he tweeted.

Alshon’s tweet further ignited a heated discussion about the superior racket sport. In recent years, Pickleball has been experiencing a surge in popularity worldwide, leading to numerous athletes from other racket sports making the switch. However, Alshon’s statement provoked a strong reaction from both current and former tennis players, who criticized his opinion as uninformed.

James Blake and Andy Roddick both participated in the discussion, with Blake making a sarcastic remark about Christian Alshon’s tennis experience. Roddick even issued a challenge, stating that if any pickleball player surpasses former ATP player Jack Sock’s ranking in tennis, he will commentate a pickleball match while standing on his head.

“Haha. That might be because you were playing a pretty low level of tennis. Maybe if you were familiar with the athleticism it takes to excel at the sport you would realize how ridiculous this statement is,”James Blake tweeted.

“It’s pretty hard to say one of the most ridiculous things on Twitter in a given day. Tell you what. If anyone pickle person ever ranks higher in tennis than what Sock will be at end of this year in his new paid pickle hobby, I’ll commentate a pickle match standing on my head. This ain’t a real discussion. Fun game. Dumb conversation,”Andy Roddick tweeted.

Despite Alshon’s statement comparing the talent of the world’s best pickleball player to someone like Roger Federer, Nick Kyrgios dismissed it as “wild”and asserted that there was no valid comparison. In response, former Serena Williams coach Rennae Stubbs advised Alshon to delete his tweet. Additionally, former WTA World No. 1 Kim Clijsters expressed her belief that pickleball is not even as challenging as padel.

“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,”Nick Kyrgios tweeted.

“Dude you really need to delete this tweet,”Rennae Stubbs wrote.

“Padel is a lot harder than pickleball, too,”Kim Clijsters commented on Instagram.

Alshon’s opinion was also met with criticism from present-day tennis players such as Jessica Pegula, Christopher Eubanks, Tara Moore, and Corentin Moutet.

“You could take any professional tennis player and put them in pickleball and they’d hold up… I don’t think you could say the same for the opposite way around…,”Tara Moore tweeted.

“Pickleball court is half long and half large of a tennis court. But I agree that pickleball looks so intense. 5 sets in a slam is nothing compare to it,”Corentin Moutet wrote.

Professional Tennis Players Embracing Pickleball: Jack Sock and Eugenie Bouchard

In recent years, pickleball has seen a surge in popularity among retired tennis athletes. Notable former American players such as Jack Sock, Sam Querrey, and Kaitlyn Christian, as well as current players like Canadian star Eugenie Bouchard, have all joined the pickleball community.

After officially retiring from professional tennis in August 2023, Jack Sock transitioned to a full-time career as a pickleball player. Since then, the former ATP World No. 8 has excelled on the pickleball court and is currently recognized as the World No. 13 player by the Professional Pickleball Association.

In September 2023, Eugenie Bouchard began playing pickleball and made her professional PPA Tour debut in January 2024. Despite joining the PPA Tour, the Canadian continued to compete on the WTA Tour and her most recent appearance on a tennis court was at the Billie Jean King Cup finals in November 2023.