Pickleball occasion attracts tennis Hall of Famers to spice up enchantment

When Andy Roddick agreed to affix John McEnroe, Andre Agassi and Michael Chang on the Pickleball Slam, the 2003 U.S. Open champion figured he had two distinct benefits in opposition to the three different International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees collaborating within the made-for-TV exhibition in Hollywood, Florida.

At age 40, Roddick is the junior member of the quartet (McEnroe is 64, Agassi 52, Chang 51). And Roddick’s serve, which topped 150 mph again in his days on the tennis tour, was the quickest among the many group of retired Grand Slam title winners who signed up for one thing that contains a $1 million purse and airs Sunday on ESPN at midday Eastern, earlier than the March Madness ladies’s championship recreation.

“As I’m walking through the (pickleball) rules, I saw they took away my youth with (limited) movement, and they took away my serve with having to serve underhand,” Roddick mentioned with a chuckle, “so I’m not really sure what’s left.”

He will face Chang, then McEnroe will tackle Agassi, earlier than a McEnroe-Chang vs. Agassi-Roddick doubles competitors on the Pickleball Slam — the most recent in a collection of makes an attempt to attract eyeballs to a sport taking up courts in neighborhoods throughout whereas nonetheless discovering its footing on tv.

“Everyone likes it instantly. It’s pretty well-regarded by people that play it,” Roddick mentioned. “But you also don’t know if it will ever translate to TV and be a very watchable product without knowing the ins and outs and nuances that, frankly, I don’t know that people have the time to learn.”

ESPN/ABC have proven pickleball up to now, there’s a deal in place with one league for a few of its competitions, and there are ongoing discussions with others.

“We’re obviously not writing big checks for pickleball at this moment,” mentioned Tim Bunnell, ESPN senior vp of programming. “The stage of development for the sport is: We’re all still figuring out how it translates in the media world. We know how it translates participation-wise.”

Horizon Sports & Experiences (HS&E) is producing the Pickleball Slam in tandem with InsideOut Sports and Entertainment (ISE). The thought, HS&E co-CEO David Levy defined, was for bold-faced names from one racket sport to assist promote one other.

“Today, right now, nobody truly knows the top pickleball players. No one can even name maybe the top 50 pickleball players,” mentioned Levy, the previous president of Turner Networks. ”(But) it’s an enormous rising phenomenon in sport. And we determined to leap in, in a novel method.”

Likening the enchantment of Sunday’s occasion to what drew followers to “The Match,” a televised golf exhibition that started below his watch at Turner with Tiger Woods taking part in in opposition to Phil Mickelson in 2018, Levy mentioned: “I’ve done this magic before.”

He mentioned he would like to get tennis stars such because the Williams sisters, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal to play pickleball in future editions.