“Since I was very little, Singapore has been on my bucket list. I’ve been wanting to go for a long time, and now that pickleball is getting involved in Singapore, it was just the perfect occasion for me to go and play,” Tardio told The Straits Times writer Melvyn Teoh in a recent interview.

“One thing I’m going to be talking a lot about is pattern recognition, and you’re going to have a better understanding of how the game is played and what you are actually looking for. A lot of clinics just show you how to hit the ball, but if you really want to get to the professional level, you cannot only be good at hitting the shots.”

Tardio previously visited Asia in April, spending time in Vietnam for PPA Tour Asia's MB Hanoi Cup where he won men’s doubles gold alongside Johns.

“It was amazing and it was a lot of fun. I personally love travelling, I love getting to know other countries, so it was a great experience,” he told Teoh. “The pickleball surprised me a lot. I was not expecting the tournament to be such a premier experience, the fans were going crazy, and it’s something that you don’t always have in the US. It’s not a crazy difference, but I think definitely in Vietnam, the venue was bigger, more stadium-like, and in the US you would have a venue that has much fewer courts.”

But how was the actual level of play?

“I’d rate it a solid seven or eight. I think there were a lot of good players, especially for singles – the person who won the tournament was actually someone from Vietnam (Ly Hoang Nam), so the level is definitely up there,” Tardio told Teoh. 

“I don’t think they’re super far behind. I would say the main thing is just how it’s tough getting better when you don’t have high-level practice. That could easily stop being the case once the players from Asia go to the US, or more US players come to Asia, and they learn each other’s games. I think the level is going to get closer and closer, and in two to three years, we could easily see an Asian player in the top 10, maybe top five.”

Click here to follow Tardio's journey on Instagram.