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A controversial take by pickleball player Christian Alshon, who termed the sport tougher than tennis, has sparked intense backlash from professional tennis athletes, including Andy Roddick, Nick Kyrgios, Jessica Pegula, and others.
Alshon took to social media platform X, formerly Twitter, on April 2, to claim that playing pickleball has made him a much better athlete than playing tennis. He added the former requires more skills and technique than the latter. Alshon also wrote that pickleball needs 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 added fuel to an already raging debate over which racket sport is better. Pickleball has been gaining immense popularity across the globe in recent years, and many athletes from other racket sports have switched to it. However, Alshon's words struck a nerve with current and former tennis players, who slammed his take as ignorant.
James Blake and Andy Roddick joined in on the discourse, with Blake taking a dig at Christian Alshon's tennis career. Roddick even challenged that if any pickleball player ranks higher in tennis than former ATP player Jack Sock will be ranked in pickleball, he will commentate a pickleball match 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.
Nick Kyrgios found Alshon's statement "wild," claiming there was no comparison between the talent of the world's best pickleball player and someone like Roger Federer. Meanwhile, former Serena Williams coach Rennae Stubbs urged Alshon to delete his tweet, and former WTA World No. 1 Kim Clijsters said that even padel is harder than pickleball.
"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.
Current tennis players like Jessica Pegula, Christopher Eubanks, Tara Moore, and Corentin Moutet also ridiculed Alshon's opinion.
"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.
Jack Sock and Eugenie Bouchard are among tennis players who have switched to pickleball
Pickleball has become the go-to sport for retired tennis athletes. From former American players like Jack Sock, Sam Querrey, and Kaitlyn Christian to current players like Canadian star Eugenie Bouchard, pickleball has seen an influx of tennis players in recent years.
Jack Sock became a full-time pickleball player after retiring from professional tennis in August 2023. The former ATP World No. 8 bas blossomed on the pickleball court and is currently ranked World No. 13 by the Professional Pickleball Association.
Meanwhile, Eugenie Bouchard took up pickleball in September 2023 and played her first professional PPA Tour match in January 2024. The Canadian continued to play on the WTA Tour despite signing up for the PPA Tour and was last seen on a tennis court at the Billie Jean King Cup finals in November 2023.
