When agreed to join John McEnroe, Andre Agassi and Michael Chang at the Pickleball Slam, the 2003 U.S. Open champion figured he had two distinct advantages against the three other inductees participating in the made-for-TV exhibition in Hollywood, Florida.
At age 40, Roddick is the junior member of the quartet (McEnroe is 64, Agassi 52, Chang 51). And Roddick鈥檚 serve, which topped 150 mph back in his days on the tennis tour, was the fastest among the group of retired Grand Slam title winners who signed up for something that features a $1 million purse and airs Sunday on ESPN at noon EDT, before the March Madness women鈥檚 championship game.
鈥淎s I鈥檓 walking through the (pickleball) rules, I saw they took away my youth with (limited) movement, and they took away my serve with having to serve underhand,鈥� Roddick said with a chuckle, 鈥渟o I鈥檓 not really sure what鈥檚 left.鈥� He will face Chang, then McEnroe will take on Agassi, before a McEnroe-Chang vs. Agassi-Roddick doubles competition at the Pickleball Slam 鈥� the latest in a series of attempts to draw eyeballs to a sport taking over courts in neighborhoods all over while still finding its footing on television.
鈥淓veryone likes it instantly. It鈥檚 pretty well-regarded by people that play it,鈥� Roddick said. 鈥淏ut you also don鈥檛 know if it will ever translate to TV and be a very watchable product without knowing the ins and outs and nuances that, frankly, I don鈥檛 know that people have the time to learn.鈥�
ESPN/ABC have shown pickleball in the past, there is a deal in place with one league for some of its competitions, and there are ongoing discussions with others.
鈥淲e鈥檙e obviously not writing big checks for pickleball at this moment,鈥� said Tim Bunnell, ESPN senior vice president of programming. 鈥淭he stage of development for the sport is: We鈥檙e all still figuring out how it translates in the media world. We know how it translates participation-wise.鈥�
Horizon Sports & Experiences (HS&E) is producing the Pickleball Slam. The idea, HS&E co-CEO David Levy explained, was for bold-faced names from one racket sport to help promote another.
鈥淭oday, right now, nobody truly knows the top pickleball players. No one can even name maybe the top 50 pickleball players,鈥� said Levy, the former president of Turner Networks. 鈥�(But) it鈥檚 a huge rising phenomenon in sport. And we decided to jump in, in a unique way.鈥�
Likening the appeal of Sunday鈥檚 event to what drew fans to 鈥淭he Match,鈥� a televised golf exhibition that began under his watch at Turner with Tiger Woods playing against Phil Mickelson in 2018, Levy said: 鈥淚鈥檝e done this magic before.鈥�
He said he would love to get tennis stars such as the Williams sisters, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal to play pickleball in future editions.
鈥淜eep building this incredible, rising sport,鈥� Levy said, 鈥渨ith great brand names.鈥�
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AP tennis: and
Howard Fendrich, The Associated Press
