
Djokovic slated to participate in pickleball event before US Open
Tennis legend Novak Djokovic isn't exactly pickleball's biggest supporter, but he's about to pick up a paddle ahead of the upcoming US Open.
On Thursday, Djokovic will participate in The HEAD NYC Mash Up alongside fellow tennis stars Jannik Sinner and Barbora Krejcikova, and pickleballers Callie Smith and Roscoe Bellamy.
The pickleball event will be streamed LIVE exclusively on the HEAD Tennis Instagram account from 6:40 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET.
Back in July, Djokovic shared some rather interesting comments at Wimbledon.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion identified the grassroots popularity of pickleball and padel as one of the threats to tennis’ growth at the recreational level.
“Tennis is the king or queen of all the racket sports, that’s true. But on a club level, tennis is endangered, and if we don’t do something about it globally and collectively, they’re gonna convert all the tennis clubs into padel and pickleball because it’s just more economical. You can build three padel courts inside one tennis court,” he said. “If you do the simple math, it’s just much more financially viable for an owner of the club to have those courts.”
By the time Callie and Roscoe are done showing Novak the basics of America's fastest-growing sport, he might just change his tune and give the game some well-deserved love.
Stay tuned.
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