Latest news with #U.S.OpenPickleballChampionships
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Tennis legend Andre Agassi to make pro pickleball debut in doubles match with Anna Leigh Waters
Tennis legend Andre Agassi is ready for his next challenge. Agassi — an eight-time Grand Slam winner in tennis — is now taking his talents to pro pickleball. Agassi will make his pro pickleball debut at the U.S. Open Pickleball Championships in Naples, Fla. on April 30. He's teaming up with the biggest star in the sport, 18-year-old Anna Leigh Waters, as part of the doubles match. Want to know how to make pro pickleball more mainstream? THIS. MORE OF THIS.📍@AndreAgassi @AnnaLeighWaters @usopenpicklebal — The Kitchen Pickleball 👨🏻🍳 (@TheKitchenPB) April 22, 2025 Agassi is no stranger to pickleball. In 2023, he took part in the Pickleball Slam. The event — which also featured Michael Chang, John McEnroe and Andy Roddick — marked the first time pickleball was broadcast on ESPN. Since then, Agassi has apparently developed an affinity for the sport. In March, he released his own pro pickleball paddle with JOOLA. Waters is considered the best pickleball player in the world. She is currently ranked as the top singles, doubles and mixed player in the world. Waters has been a mainstay in the sport since 2019, when she was just 12 years old. Her aggressive play style is credited with changing the way pros play pickleball, and is the reason Waters wanted to team up with Agassi for the event. Agassi was considered an aggressive tennis player in his prime. The U.S. Open Pickleball Championships will begin Saturday and will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network. Agassi and Waters are expected to take the court at noon ET.
Epoch Times
03-05-2025
- Sport
- Epoch Times
Andre Agassi Wins His Professional Pickleball Debut With Partner Anna Leigh Waters
NAPLES, Fla.—Andre Agassi won his professional pickleball debut a day after turning 55, teaming with 18-year-old Anna Leigh Waters to defeat a pair of even younger teens 11–8, 9–11, 11–7 in the mixed pro division at the U.S. Open Pickleball Championships on Wednesday. Agassi is an eight-time Grand Slam champion who retired from professional tennis in 2006. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame five years later. He has participated in made-for-TV pickleball exhibitions with other former tennis players and can be seen pitching pickleball equipment via social media. Agassi will be a studio analyst for TNT Sports during the semifinals and finals at the French Open this year. He won the title at Roland Garros in 1999 to complete a career Grand Slam. Pickleball is a mix of tennis and ping pong that uses paddles and a wiffleball. It quickly rose from nearly nothing to more than 13 million players in the United States in just a few years.
Forbes
01-05-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Andre Agassi Had A Mixed Pickleball Debut At the U.S. Open in Naples
NAPLES, FLORIDA - APRIL 30: Andre Agassi hits a backhand drive shot against Tristan Dussault and ... More Stevie Petropouleas during the 2025 US Open Pickleball Championships Pro Mixed Doubles round of 16 game at East Naples Community Park on April 30, 2025 in Naples, Florida. (Photo by) There's nothing a tennis crowd loves more than watching legends make a comeback. Roger Federer recently announced that he's eyeing exhibitions when ready to roll. Meanwhile, Andre Agassi has taken a left turning at 55 years of age to make a pro debut at the U.S. Open Pickleball Championships in Naples, Florida. Agassi teamed up with Anna Leigh Waters to win against two teenagers with a combined age of 29 in a tight match that went to three sets before losing in the evening session. They pack the matches in at pickleball. "Tennis was relief, pickleball is joy, this is absolute joy,' said Agassi after overcoming 13-year-old Stevie Petropouleas and 16-year-old Tristan Dussault. While The U.S. Open is the breaking news after Agassi's participation, it is not an established event on the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) tour. Waters is the best player in the world for singles, doubles and mixed doubles with a gargantuan 174 PPA titles to her name. Agassi, who won eight tennis slams, joked to CNBC on signing to the partnership: "She's probably sick of winning so much, and that's why she called me and asked me to play.' The pair were among 3,500 participants from all 50 states and 40 countries competing in junior, amateur and pro divisions. The real 'Super Bowl' of pickleball is held in Dallas at the World Championships this November. The tournament greeted over 57,000 fans in the 2024 event and 2025 has seen ticket sales rise by almost a third in the first seven established events of the year on the PPA tour. Pickleball is currently enjoying its status as the fastest-growing sport in the United States for the fourth successive year. Agassi is one of several former tennis players who have taken up the game. Former ATP stars Jack Sock, Donald Young, John Isner and Sam Querrey are among those who have transitioned to the proper professional ranks of the sport. Former world No. 4 James Blake and five-time Slam champion Kim Clijsters are also co-owners of Major League Pickleball teams. Clijsters joined up with NFL Legend Tom Brady to invest in the Las Vegas Night Owls in 2022. When former legends appear with a pickleball paddle in their hands, does the dopamine hit go public? The answer is yes and no according to sports memorabilia veteran Brandon Steiner. 'If they want to create truly exciting exhibition games that capture public attention, they need high-profile contemporary celebrities that resonate with younger demographics,' said Steiner, who bought the Old Yankees Stadium to expand his collectibles empire. There have been three iterations of the Pickleball Slam which Agassi and his wife, 22-time singles slam winner Steffi Graf, have won. The Pickleball Slam 2 featured Agassi and Graf against John McEnroe and Maria Sharapova in front of a sold-out crowd of over 4,500 for a $1 million purse with a global ESPN audience. In February, a near sellout crowd of almost 12,000 saw the husband and wife team beat Eugenie Bouchard and Andy Roddick at the Michelob ULTRA Arena. Michelob even featured the sport in its 2025 Super Bowl commercial. The PPA signed up former 2014 Wimbledon ladies' finalist Bouchard in 2023. The Canadian has a huge Instagram following of over two million and it's this kind of public coverage that connects to the younger audience. 'While Agassi's involvement is a positive step, he remains largely unknown to Millennials and Gen Z who represent the future of sports viewership and participation,' said Steiner. Celebrity pickleball events are growing and the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney, Bill Gates and even the Kardashians are playing the game. During last year's Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic even warned that tennis is endangered by its growth. 'If we don't do something about it, as I said, globally or collectively, padel, pickleball in [the] States, they're going to convert all the tennis clubs because……it's just more economical.' Last August, the United States Tennis Association declared that 10 per cent of tennis courts have been repurposed for pickleball. A standard tennis court could realistically accommodate up to four regulation-size pickleball courts. There are now around 70,000 courts in the United States with an increasing amount of leagues and media coverage. "The PPA has a partnership with the Tennis Channel on a 24/7 pickleball channel called "Pickleballtv" - which enjoyed more than 1 one billion minutes watched in 2024. We also have national broadcast windows on FOX, CBS, ESPN2 and more," said Jeff Watson, the VP of Communications for the United Pickleball Association, created after Major League Pickleball and the PPA merged last year. The average salary of a professional is approximately $260,000. FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA - APRIL 24: Anna Leigh Waters of the United States poses for a portrait on ... More April 24, 2023 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The 16-year-old Waters is currently the No. 1 player in world in women's professional pickleball and competes in all three divisions: Women's Doubles, Mixed Doubles, and Singles. Waters, who started playing pickleball in 2017, became the youngest professional player and tournament champion at the age of 12. (Photo by) The power of pickleball has even got to Adidas which has increased its presence in the market with an aggressive re-entry into the market by signing number one seed in singles and doubles, Federico Staksrud at the beginning of 2025, releasing his signature range of paddles this April. As for future views, there are still hurdles to clear. Pickleball is so easy to access for young and old that it might be a barrier to watching sporting elitism in some ways. 'They have to make pickleball far more compelling for television viewership,' Steiner told me. "Right now, it's not exciting enough to watch - the small court dimensions and slower pace of play create a visual experience that lacks the dynamic athleticism viewers expect from premium sports entertainment.' Even so, some of the courtcraft and reflex volleys are astounding and can hypnotize more than a back of the court tennis rally. There are almost 20 million players out there in the States according to recent figures. "To me, tennis is always the king. But it's easy to play this. That's why my friends play with me all the time,' John McEnroe said of the phenomenon. Pro pickleball isn't such a cakewalk as Agassi just found out.
Reuters
30-04-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Andre Agassi wins debut in U.S. Open Pickleball Championships
April 30 - Andre Agassi emerged victorious in his professional pickleball debut, teaming with Anna Leigh Waters to record an 11-8, 9-11, 11-7 win in the mixed pro division at the U.S. Open Pickleball Championships on Wednesday in Naples, Fla. Agassi, who turned 55 on Tuesday, joined forces with the 18-year-old Waters to dispatch 13-year-old Stevie Petropouleas and 16-year-old Tristan Dussault. Agassi, who won eight Grand Slam titles during his Hall of Fame tennis career, has played pickleball only in an amateur capacity before this tournament. He relied heavily on Waters, the No. 1-ranked female pickleball player in the world. "Coming out here with Anna Leigh, I was more nervous than a gypsy with a mortgage," Agassi said in a post-match interview with CBS Sports Network. "This is a metaphor for life: choose your partners well." Agassi's unforced error allowed the Petropouleas-Dussault duo to level the match before heading to the third game. Agassi's team, however, won six of the first eight points before its opponents rallied to tie the score. Undaunted, the Agassi-Waters tandem regained their serve and ran off four consecutive points en route to winning the match. The Agassi/Waters tandem will face Trang Huynh-McClain/Len Yang, who on Tuesday defeated Ben Newell and Glauka Carvajal Lane 11-9, 11-3.
30-04-2025
- Sport
Andre Agassi wins his professional pickleball debut with partner Anna Leigh Waters
NAPLES, Fla. -- NAPLES, Fla. (AP) — Andre Agassi won his professional pickleball debut a day after turning 55, teaming with 18-year-old Anna Leigh Waters to defeat a pair of even younger teens 11-8, 9-11, 11-7 in the mixed pro division at the U.S. Open Pickleball Championships on Wednesday. Agassi is an eight-time Grand Slam champion who retired from professional tennis in 2006. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame five years later. He has participated in made-for-TV pickleball exhibitions with other former tennis players and can be seen pitching pickleball equipment via social media. Agassi will be a studio analyst for TNT Sports during the semifinals and finals at the French Open this year. He won the title at Roland Garros in 1999 to complete a career Grand Slam. Pickleball is a mix of tennis and ping pong that uses paddles and a wiffleball. It quickly rose from nearly nothing to more than 13 million players in the United States in just a few years.
