Like many professional pickleball players, Gabe Tardio grew up playing tennis. However, unlike most of his peers, he also spent considerable time on the pickleball court from a young age.

When Tardio was 12 and living in Bolivia with his family, his grandfather built a pickleball court at his vacation home, giving the entire family a place to play together.

“I knew nothing about the sport. I thought it was a little game my grandparent invented himself,” admitted Tardio. “I have 14 cousins on my mom’s side and we would always do a ton of activities with my whole family. And one of those activities was pickleball.”

Despite his early exposure to the sport, Tardio had his sights set on becoming a professional tennis player. A few years later, he and his immediate family moved to Florida, where he continued developing his tennis game at a nearby academy.

That path took an unexpected turn in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the academy to shut down. Unable to continue playing tennis, Tardio turned to pickleball.

“I’d wake up and go with my grandfather and my father to play pickleball because we had a court in my grandparents’ apartment complex,” explained Tardio. “I didn’t think anything of it because I always loved tennis. I was honestly embarrassed to tell people I was playing pickleball.”

“More than anything, it was my dad begging me to go play with him. My dad was very passionate about pickleball, and one day he took me to Plantation Park where I met Jorja and JW Johnson,” added Tardio. “I was surprised to meet them because I hadn’t met any other kids my age playing pickleball. That’s where everything started.”

Tardio’s father was not only an avid player himself, but also encouraged Gabe to explore the opportunities the sport could offer.

“My dad was the one who saw a future in it,” emphasized Tardio. “He told me, ‘You’ve got the tennis skills, it’s a new sport, you’re already good at the soft game.’ He was really the one to push me to start playing moneyballs.”

Tardio eventually joined what the pickleball community calls the “Julie Johnson Academy,” training alongside JW and Jorja Johnson, Milly Rane, and Dylan Frazier.

While Tardio’s father first encouraged him to pursue pickleball, Julie Johnson helped take his game to the next level, pushing him to compete in 5.0 tournaments and travel to events.

“It was the whole family that really took me under their wing,” shared Tardio. “I started traveling with them, I started playing tournaments with Jorja, and I would practice every day with them. But I was easily the worst one out of everyone.”

Still, Tardio viewed pickleball as a step below tennis and never imagined how far the professional tour would eventually go. As a teenager, he was simply enjoying the sport and the opportunity to earn some prize money.

“It was fun and there was not much else to do, but once I got signed, I started to play with the best players in the world,” explained Tardio. “Once I grew confidence in myself, and when I realized I could make something out of this, that’s when I started to fall in love with the sport.”

Over time, Tardio continued to develop his game. After signing with the PPA Tour in 2022, he began treating pickleball as a serious career, steadily climbing the ranks to become one of the sport’s top pros.

His journey has been remarkable, but in many ways, it feels like he’s only getting started.