A former ATP star and Miami Open tournament’s director engaged in a debate with each other regarding Pickleball. Christian Alshon, a pro pickleball player after quitting tennis, has made a surprising comment about both sports. Now, this comment is so controversial that it instantly started an argument on social media. In this argument, the Miami Open tournament’s director made a shocking comment that fueled the debate between tennis and pickleball.

This debate about which sport suits all physical capacities has divided people. Many famous tennis legends such as Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf, and Maria Sharapova have joined the league of pickleball and played the sport’s second edition slam. Nevertheless, the tennis fraternity is still not cool with pickleball and finds it not on the same level as tennis.

Miami Open tournament’s director asks Christian Alshon to be “familiar with athleticism” after his recent remark about pickleball and tennis

Former tennis player Christian Alshon made a surprising revelation. He spoke about how pickleball improved his athletic ability on his official X (formerly Twitter) platform. Speaking about his personal experience, Alshon wrote, “Pickleball has made me a much better athlete than Tennis ever did. Faster reaction time and speed are needed since the ball is only coming from 10 feet away. Point for point, pickleball requires more skill than tennis.”

Christian Alshon’s comment hurt the sentiment of many from the tennis fraternity. Among them, the Miami Open tournament’s director James Blake stepped forward and presented his anger on the same platform. Blake responded by saying, “Haha. That might be because you were playing a pretty low level of tennis. Maybe if you were familiar with the athleticism it takes to excel at the sport you would realize how ridiculous this statement is.”

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While Alshon was not a low-level player, Blake’s statement expressed his disappointment. This is because Blake refused to compare tennis with a new sport like pickleball. This ongoing debate between these two sports has earned a wider spotlight, as pickleball players share their challenges with the sport.

Atlanta Pickleball Club’s secretary revealed their struggles to establish the sport as tennis players “don’t like” them

Two years back, The Guardian wrote an article stating the ongoing rivalry between tennis and pickleball. They tried to highlight the distress of the pickleball players as they were subjected to various issues. For example, The Guardian mentioned how the pickleball courts in Santa Rosa were forcefully closed in 2021 when someone spilled six quarts of oil on the court. The accused also dropped a note hinting at pickleball players. The note mentioned scratching the cars of all pickleball players, which tells the stressful endeavor of the players with the sport.

Altanla Pickleball Club’s secretary, Brent Ingram said– “Tennis players don’t like that we’re on their courts, Which I understand. But there’s nowhere else for us to play. I think it’s one of two people, it’s either tennis players that are frustrated with us, or houses that are nearby that don’t like the noise” 

While Christian Alshon’s comment about tennis and pickleball might appear problematic to people, they should also acknowledge the challenges of pickleball players to survive and practice. On the other hand, James Blake could have been a bit more rational in accepting the growing influence of pickleball as tennis’s rival.

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