Pickleball fever grips the tennis world! This sport has been rapidly gaining popularity worldwide, even attracting the admiration of tennis legends like John McEnroe and Andre Agassi. This unique sport, which combines elements of tennis and table tennis, has captivated players of all ages, making it an appealing choice for many. After Agassi, the new ambassador for this paddle sport, it is time for another legend of the game to unveil his love for pickleball. Who’s it, though?

The 64-year-old tennis legend, Ivan Lendl, was recently spotted taking the court in the Daytona Beach Open pickleball tournament. During a recent interaction with the media, the 8-time Grand Slam champion spoke about his experience of playing this rapidly growing sport. He said, “I’m a little too old to play tennis and I run too much, so I picked up the doubles and half of a pickleball court. I liked it. At first, I hated it too, but then I played a few times and changed my mind.“

Ivan Lendl, who retired from the racquet sport in 1994 after playing at the highest level for nearly two decades, is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of men’s tennis. He lifted 94 titles, which is the fourth-most in the history of the racquet sport. Even after his retirement, he played a crucial role in shaping the careers of tennis stars like Andy Murray and Alexander Zverev. Seeing Lendl on the pickleball courts, perhaps, has now made some of the fans get reminded of his epic rivalry with Andre Agassi.

Will we ever see him play a pickleball match against Andre Agassi? Time will tell! They have faced each other 8 times on the Tour and Lendl has won only 2 matches out of them. If we take a look at some of the moments from their epic rivalries, there is this moment from the SF of the 1988 US Open, when Andre Agassi was seen unhappy with Ivan Lendl complaining about his grunting.

Ivan Lendl stated, “Andre grunts, and that’s fine. But when he goes for a big shot he grunts much harder… if it’s a winner and you have no play on the ball, that’s fine, but when you have a play on the ball it throws off your timing because you just hear something different. I don’t think he does it on purpose, but I don’t think he realizes how disturbing it is.” After hearing this, Andre Agassi said that the referee in that match exercised poor judgment in approaching him for grunting.

Not only that, even while recalling their first meeting, Andre Agassi once claimed that Ivan Lendl described his game as just a haircut and forehand! How fascinating isn’t it to see pickleball giving us this chance to relive these epic moments in some of the fiercest rivalries in the tennis world? Is there any chance of pickleball overshadowing tennis, though?

Andre Agassi dismisses concerns about pickleball overshadowing the racquet sport

Pickleball is now being hailed as one of the fastest-growing sports in the world! Its market has seen consistent growth over the recent years. According to several reports, its valuation was approximately $1.3 billion in 2022 and now it’s expected to rise up to $1.82 million in 2025. Considering this massive growth, fans may wonder if its popularity will have some effect on tennis in the upcoming years, or not.

Well, while addressing these queries, Andre Agassi once said, “Not only can they both play nice in the sandbox, but I think they can enhance one another. Anybody that loves pickleball loves to play. Anybody that loves tennis loves to play but also loves to watch.” He further added, “There are a lot of tennis clubs that don’t get used enough. That, they can convert half pickleball, and then all of a sudden it (may) bring tennis clubs alive again…Pickleball, on the other hand, requires much less space. I believe pickleball will continue to grow fast, but I don’t think it will cannibalise tennis in any way.” How did Agassi get into this sport, though?

In reply to this, the American legend once said, “I played a lot of years of tennis, and I still play some. I love it, but it’s a little harder on the body, too, with the rotation…I got into [pickleball] because I did this event, you know, the Pickleball Slam with me and [Andy] Roddick and [Michael] Chang and John [McEnroe]. I was like, ‘You know what, I’ll pick up the paddle, and I’ll see what’s up with it.” He also spoke about the addictive nature of this paddle sport during that conversation.

“And it’s pretty addicting right away, you know? But I didn’t really get addicted to it until after we competed. Then I was like, ‘Oh my God, if you get the right group of people together, this is a lot of fun.’ …Then I just kept it up. I actually enjoy the competition,” said Andre Agassi. Talking about having the right group of people, in just a few month’s time, he is all set to team up with his wife, Steffi Graf to take on Andy Roddick and Eugenie Bouchard at the Pickleball Slam 3! 

Interestingly, it was Roddick who had initially introduced Agassi to this sport. He invited him to take part in a fundraising pickleball match a few years ago. Now, the question is, can Agassi and Graf beat the duo of Roddick and Bouchard in the Pickleball Slam 3? What do you think?