Former American tennis ace Andy Roddick recently seemed annoyed at a pickleball player for unnecessarily dragging him to a challenge. The former World No. 1 said that he would prefer to stay out of this and felt that it was all done for attention.
It all started when Christian Alshon, a tennis player turned pickleball player, claimed that pickleball requires more skills than tennis. He declared that playing pickleball needs sharp reflexes and also went on to declare that playing pickleball made him a much better athlete than tennis ever did.
This controversial take was expected to attract severe criticism, and the same happened. While Nick Kyrgios was quick to ask Alshon to delete this post as it was a “wild thought,” Roddick also called it a dumb conversation. The American went on to declare that he would commentate standing on his head if anyone ranks higher than Jack Sock, who recently picked up on the sport.
It’s pretty hard to say one of the most ridiculous things on Twitter in a given day. Tell you what. If anyone pickle person ever ranks higher in tennis than what Sock will be at end of this year in his new paid pickle hobby, I’ll commentate a pickle match standing on my head. This ain’t a real discussion. Fun game. Dumb conversation. Andy Roddick replied to Christian Alshon via X
Andy Roddick not interested in entertaining Christian Alshon’s pickleball challenge
Not only Andy Roddick, but many other big names, including James Blake and Tara Moore, ridiculed Christian Alshon for this comparison. This tempted the pickleball player to come up with a challenge for all three of Nick Kyrgios, Blake, and Roddick.
Alshon invited the three tennis players for back-to-back singles matches and said that they have got six months to train.
@NickKyrgios @JRBlake @andyroddick how about this. I challenge you three to back to back singles matches for 100K each. I’ll give you 2/1 odds which in your minds should be crazy good odds. You have 6 months to train. Don’t worry, I’ll donate my winnings to charity Christian Alshon posted on X.
Blake and Roddick both replied to this post. While Blake answered with pointers, Roddick simply brushed aside the proposal. The American said that while the sport is good, this challenge does nothing good for the tennis players.
He’s had his attention. Now I just want to get kicked out of this conversation like he got kicked out of Virginia. Pickle is fun, and I understand how all this is good for it. It does nothing for us. I’m out. Cheers Andy Roddick wrote
It is worth mentioning that Roddick has also tried his hands at pickleball, as he recently played the sport at an event in Texas. However, the former tennis player does not look interested in pursuing it at the highest level.
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