"When you see an explosion of a sport and it starts potentially eroding into your sport, then, yes, you're concerned," Hainline said, expressing the fears of tennis leaders about the rise of pickleball and its impact on tennis infrastructure.
"It's obnoxious to hear that pickleball noise," USTA President Dr. Brian Hainline remarked, highlighting the tensions between the growing popularity of pickleball and the established tradition of tennis at events like the U.S. Open.
"A lot of pickleball advocates just came in and said, 'We need these tennis courts.' It was a great, organic grassroots movement but it was a little anti-tennis," Hainline explained, shedding light on the conflict between tennis and pickleball's expansion.
Despite the rapid growth of pickleball, the USTA has not embraced it, contrasting with other countries' tennis federations which view the sport as a potential feeder for tennis.
[
Collection
]
[
|
...
]