As the 2024 Wimbledon Championships serve up drama on its hallowed grass courts, a different kind of volley is playing out off-court. It’s a match that pits tennis titan Novak Djokovic against an unlikely doubles team of NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tennis bad boy Nick Kyrgios. The stakes? The future of tennis itself.

Just hours after Kyrgios posted a chummy Instagram pic with Mahomes, captioned “pleasure bro.. let’s play some pickleball soon?“, Djokovic lobbed a verbal grenade at Wimbledon. The Serbian ace, gunning for his 25th major singles title and aiming to tie Roger Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon crowns, warned that tennis is “endangered” at the club level. “If we don’t do something about it globally, they’re gonna convert all the tennis clubs into paddle or pickleball,” Djokovic declared, his words carrying more weight than a waterlogged tennis ball.

This grand slam of irony comes as Mahomes and Kyrgios joined the pickleball bandwagon back in 2022. They’re now co-owners of a Major League Pickleball team in Miami, investing between $1 million and $3 million.

Djokovic’s concerns aren’t just hot air. He pointed out the cold, hard economics: “You have one tennis court… you can build 3 paddle courts on one tennis court. Do the simple math.” It’s a real-life game of Monopoly, with pickleball threatening to buy up Park Place and Boardwalk.

Meanwhile, Mahomes was spotted at Wimbledon, rubbing elbows with tennis royalty. The Chiefs’ quarterback shared photos with Nick Kyrgios, Frances Tiafoe, and Carlos Alcaraz Garfia, looking more at home than a ball boy on Centre Court.

Patrick Mahomes’ Pickleball power play

Speaking of Mahomes, the Super Bowl MVP isn’t just throwing touchdown passes–he’s making power plays in the sports business world that would make Jerry Jones sit up and take notice.

The NFL star has been on a sports shopping spree that puts fantasy league owners to shame. He’s nabbed stakes in the Kansas City Royals (MLB), Sporting Kansas City (MLS), and the Kansas City Current (NWSL). It’s like he’s collecting sports teams faster than he racks up passing yards.

But Mahomes isn’t just playing in his own backyard. His pickleball investment is part of a larger trend. As Forbes reports, he’s joined a star-studded ownership group including Naomi Osaka, NBA super-agent Rich Paul, and billionaire tech founder Soichiro Minami. They’re not alone – Tom Brady, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant have all dipped their toes in the pickleball pond.

Mahomes, who inked a $450 million deal with the Chiefs in 2020, is clearly playing the long game. His off-field earnings are estimated at a cool $22 million annually, and these strategic investments could see that figure skyrocket faster than a Mahomes deep ball.

The relationship between tennis and pickleball is as complex as a chess match. While some tennis players view pickleball with the same disdain as a double fault, others are embracing it. Exhibition matches have even pitted top tennis players like Jack Sock against elite pickleballers, proving that mastering the dink is harder than it looks.

As Djokovic fights to keep tennis on serve, warning that only “350 to 400 players both men, women, singles, doubles across the board that live from this sport on this planet,” Mahomes and Kyrgios are changing the game. It’s a sports soap opera that’s got everyone from Centre Court to Arrowhead Stadium watching. Game, set, match… pickleball?