Brooke Buckner is the No. 4 women’s singles player in the world and a former Division I tennis player at Michigan, known for some of the hardest ground strokes in the game, men or women.

In this episode of Pickleballers, Brooke sits down with Roscoe and Jared to trace her path from junior tennis and college coaching at Michigan, Yale, and UNC Charlotte to becoming a stay-at-home mom in 2020 and, almost by accident, one of pickleball’s top singles players. They dig into her training with Mike Wolf, her recent run with the Dallas Flash, and her near-upset of Anna Leigh Waters.

Brooke opens up about walking away from a pro tennis track at her coach’s advice, becoming a stay-at-home mom during COVID, and how her mother pushed her onto a pickleball court as a way to get her competitive again. She breaks down her jump from rec-league pickleball to the pro tour, admitting she barely trained for singles in the early days and got in “at the right time” before the women’s field got deep.

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Brooke also shares the story of going up 9-4 on Waters at PPA Mesa in 2025 before the match slipped away, why she thinks she’ll beat her “once” before retiring, and what it’s been like building a relationship with Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf through JOOLA, including the text Agassi sent her after a tough loss.

She closes out on her new doubles partnership with Kaitlyn Christian, her goal of reaching a championship Sunday in doubles, and what she wants her legacy to be as a mom who kept chasing her career.

Check out the full episode on YouTube, Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

The Kitchen Pickleball Discounts.