Every sport has an iconic rivalry, and pros Christian Alshon and James Ignatowich have both made their general dislike of one another publicly known.

Alshon tends to reference the situation more often, though, since he's generally more outspoken and unfiltered. 

Apparently, the roots of this interesting rivalry predate the pair's respective involvement in professional pickleball.

“It all started with us knowing each other back in tennis. He actually used to train at my academy, MTA, for a very short period and then he left. We used to play each other every now and then, and I’ve never lost to him in tennis,” said Alshon. “One of the main reasons I actually started playing pickleball is because I saw that this kid, James Ignatowich, who I knew from junior tennis, was playing pickleball and he was doing well. I was like, ‘If this guy can do well, so can I.’”

After Alshon picked up a paddle, he even asked Ignatowich for insight about the game.

Alshon explained that Ignatowich was very supportive and encouraged him to make the switch from tennis to pickleball. 

“I don’t think he knew what type of competition was coming into the sport by telling me that,” he mentioned. 

Since then, it’s been nothing but hilarious tweets and sparring, mainly from Alshon as they quickly became rivals. 

“I definitely think there should be rivalries in pickleball. Why would you watch any sport where there’s no rivalry and no competition?” noted Alshon. “Rivalries don’t work when they’re super one-sided. The rivalry has to have a back-and-forth chance of beating each other.”  

However, the two recently partnered up in men’s doubles at the Stratusphere Gin Virginia Beach Cup to everyone’s surprise. How could they possibly work well together on the same side of the court?

“Partnerships get planned out way, way in advance, and when I came into pickleball, he was starting to do very well in men’s and mixed, so I was willing to play with him,” shared Alshon. “Despite the beef, we care more about winning.”

Ignatowich is currently ranked No. 3 in the world in mixed, and Alshon is at No. 5.
If they could get along as partners, success would undoubtedly follow.

In Virginia, Alshon and Ignatowich lost in the Round of 16 to Rafa Hewett and Riley Newman.

“We lost to a team that we shouldn’t have lost to, and we didn’t play well in that match,” mentioned Alshon. “I think we could be better if we practiced together, but we haven’t really practiced together and we’re figuring it out.”

Alshon’s coach, Leigh Waters, offered some advice to strengthen their camaraderie.  

“Coach Leigh thinks that one of the best things that we could do to become a good team is to hang out off the court to get over the beef,“ revealed Alshon. “I joked and said, ‘Oh, so we have to go on a date?’“

Perhaps if they take a page out of undefeated Federico Staksrud and Hayden Patriquin’s playbook and hang out, drill together, and play golf, maybe they could actually build the kind of chemistry needed to string together victories and championships.

Alshon and Ignatowich will join forces again at the Lapiplasty Pickleball World Championships, and Alshon is optimistic that their performance will improve. 

But amidst the beef, there’s one tweet that truly stands out. The wooden spoon. 

“I was just in a sh*t talking mood with James, and it really came from the heart and it was sincere. I stand by that,” said Alshon. “If I play James with a wooden spoon, I’d like to see what would happen. It’s one of my best comments.”

I think we need to put that to the test at Worlds. 

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