There's a narrative perpetrated by national media outlets (and now, tennis champions) recently: pickleball is a threat to tennis.
It may seem like countless droves of former tennis players and country clubbers now prefer pickle. It may sting longtime tennis holdouts to see some of their courts sacrificed to some newfangled, migraine-inducing racquet sport.
But this doesn't tell the whole story.
Why the Narrative Persists
Part of the problem is the reactionary nature of media and, perhaps, the sports world at large.
But it doesn't help when people like Novak Djokovic, currently ranked at World No. 2 in pro tennis, add fuel to the fire:
“...At the club level, tennis is in danger...With the growth of padel in Europe and pickleball in the United States, we’re going to see more tennis courts converting to padel and pickleball because it’s cheaper." - Novak Djokovic to media after a recent Wimbledon win
His concern appears to be that tennis clubs will eschew their namesake for pickleball (and padel), shrinking the availability and accessibility of tennis worldwide.
Putting aside the notion that tennis was never all that accessible in the first place, especially not in Latin America, this concern has surface-level sensibility.
There's no denying that municipalities and some clubs across the USA have answered the demand for more pickleball surfaces, often at the partial or total expense of tennis courts.
And when Novak speaks, people listen. When I wrote a recent newsletter segment about his comments – ultimately claiming tennis would be fine – some readers came to his defense:
"Personally, I don't think he's being a drama queen. I think you are adding fuel to the fire."
"Pickle ballers don’t build courts lately, they just take over tennis courts. Novak’s comments are valid. Please respect an athlete who’s arguably the best in his sport."
I responded personally to those commenters because I appreciated the time they took to send in their thoughts.
However, I have to respectfully disagree with their takeaways for a number of reasons.
Tennis is Doing Just Fine
Tennis may have lost some courts, mostly municipal and resorts and not as much at clubs, as Novak fears.
But despite those losses, tennis has gained players over the last few years.
Several studies, from Apple's Watch wearer data to the USTA's own report, support a recent resurgence of interest in tennis.
In 2022 alone, the sport grew by at least a million American participants. USTA calculated a 33 percent overall growth rate since early 2020.
Just because that growth rate isn't as high as pickleball's doesn't mean tennis is in jeopardy. There's always going to be a champion of the moment...
...And, let's be honest: tennis has its fair share of moments. The sport's existence can be traced in some form or another to the 1100s. That predates Ghengis Khan.
Even one of tennis' earliest forms, so-called "Real Tennis," still exists today.
Look at this Real Tennis point:
If space is still being reserved for THIS sport, I can't help but think tennis courts will stick around a while yet.
They may just be increasingly separate from pickleball spaces. But isn't that what most players of either sport want, anyway?
Read Next: Pickleball ‘Bangers’ are (Mostly) Good for the Sport
Maybe I'm mincing words with all of this. But it seems silly at best, misleading at worst, for one of tennis' all-time greats to suggest his own sport is "endangered" by other growing sports. Both have a place and likely will continue to.
