Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian dismisses legitimacy of pickleball as a 'real sport' for now

Serena Williams' husband, Alexis Ohanian, threw shade at pickleball, saying that he wouldn't consider it a 'real sport' until he saw a highlight of a pickleball match go viral on social media. While the racquet sport is on a monumental rise in the USA, the Reddit co-founder does not yet buy into its hype.

Alexis Ohanian co-founded a social media platform in the 2000s that now boasts a valuation in the billions, believed that from a digital analytics standpoint, pickleball hasn't yet reached high levels of prominence.

Speaking to AdWeek, Ohanian mentioned the sport's viability in terms of online popularity and said:

"Can the atomic unit—can its fundamental highlights—go viral? Until I see a pickleball highlight go viral, I don’t think it’s a real sport," Ohanian said.

The AdWeek Brand Genius award winner's scathing remarks about pickleball stand in stark contrast to the sport’s rapid rise in popularity, as critics often cite the expensive nature of tennis as a key argument against the sport.

Pickleball's rise has been said to "endanger" tennis, with several tennis players, including Eugenie Bouchard, making the switch. One of the greatest tennis players, Novak Djokovic also believed that tennis should be worried about the rise of pickleball. Highlighting the financial advantage Pickleball seemingly held over Tennis at club level, Djokovic feared they may "convert all the tennis clubs into paddle and pickleball."

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Serena Williams' ex-coach Rennae Stubbs says she would never invest in a pickleball franchise

Serena Williams training (Image: Getty)

Pickleball has been pitted against tennis by many people across the world claiming that the former can give the latter a run for its money in popularity in the coming years.

However, Serena Williams' ex-coach Rennae Stubbs was seemingly unimpressed with the fairly new racquet sport. In 2022, the former Australian player criticized pickleball and said she would never invest in the franchise. Stubbs wrote (via her X handle):

"Just to let everyone know, I will NOT be investing in a Pickleball franchise & will never turn a tv on to watch Pickleball. I would rather watch pain dry. Why all these tennis players think Pickleball is worth investing in & not the game that made them all the $$$ is beyond me," Rennae Stubbs wrote.

The following year, Stubbs' disapproval of the sport continued as she called pickleball the "dumbest game" via her Instagram handle.

Pickleball's rise in popularity was seen again this year as several tennis stars including Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Taylor Fritz, Novak Djokovic, and Barbora Krejcikova played and promoted the sport at various events in New York before the US Open.