The strained relationship between pro tennis and pro pickleball appears to be dwindling.

With pros like Andre Agassi and Martina Navratilova playing pickleball and sharing their enthusiasm for the sport, it seems like America's fastest-growing sport is making an appearance at every professional tennis tournament.

Several pickleball pros attended the prestigious Australian Open ahead of the PPA Tour's Australia Pickleball Open, including Tyson McGuffin, Collin Johns, and Zane Navratil. 

All three have tennis backgrounds, so it’s no surprise they took full advantage of the opportunity to enjoy the festivities at Rod Laver Arena.

It marked the first time McGuffin attended a Grand Slam, sitting courtside with his wife, Meg, for the men's final betweem Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev.

“What a great way to build comradery between the tennis and pickleball community. I’m so blessed and grateful for what this sport has given me. I never would have imagined it would take me on this journey,” said McGuffin via Instagram. “The cherry on top was that there was a pickleball tourney going on at the Australian Open and a ton of folks showed up to support. Players from all over the world were playing in this event.”

Johns also shared some behind the scenes footage of his Grand Slam experience.

“I never thought I’d be bringing a pickleball bag to a tennis grand slam,” he wrote. “Honored to be part of growing the sport in Australia and beyond.” 

What McGuffin and Johns both highlighted was the positive impact of tennis and pickleball joining forces on such a large platform. Is this the start of a better relationship between pro tennis and pro pickleball?  

The Australian Open is obviously all about tennis, but it was refreshing to see that organizers enthusiastically incorporated a pickleball element into the event with a beautiful stadium setting and good promotion on social media.

The haters made their presence felt in the comment section, of course, because they simply don't apperciate the peaceful unification of the two racket sports. 

For his part, Navratil also made his mark on social media by asking tennis fans what they thought about the pickleball courts on-site. Many of them were displeased.

Like it or not, pickleball is here to stay, and the more the two sports happily coexist, the better the competition, athletes, venues, etc.

And with prominent voices like McGuffin, Johns, and Navratil showing their support for both sports, I think we're nearing the end of the tennis and pickleball feud.