In what can be a worrying trend for all tennis aficionados not just in the United States of America but across the world, pickleball has taken over tennis as the fastest-growing racquet sport in the continent. A large number of tennis players, who probably didn’t make big on the international circuit, are known to have shifted to pickleball.

Even as the US Open opened last week with over a million fans expected for tennis’ biggest showcase, the game’s leaders are being forced to confront a devastating fact, the USA’s fastest-growing racquet sport is not tennis but pickleball.

A recent report in The Associated Press suggests that over the last three years, i.e. after the pandemic, pickleball has witnessed participation increase by a whopping 223%.

“Quite frankly, it’s obnoxious to hear that pickleball noise,” US Tennis Association President Dr. Brian Hainline said at a recent state-of-the-game news conference.

Pickleball, an easy-to-play mix of tennis and table tennis using paddles and a wiffleball, has soared from nothing to 13.6 million (1 crore and 36 lakhs) US players in just some years.

“When you see an explosion of a sport and it starts potentially eroding into your sport, then, yes, you’re concerned. That erosion has come in our infrastructure. … A lot of pickleball advocates just came in and said, ‘We need these tennis courts,” Hainline said while speaking to AP.

A few tennis governing bodies have taken pickleball under their aegis to ensure that they can draw more fans towards tennis, but it might just have the opposite effect. France’s tennis federation even set up some pickleball courts at the French Open four months back to provide not just top players but also fans an opportunity to try it out.

The USTA though is flipping the script on pickleball with an ambitious launch of over 400 pilot programs across the US to broaden the reach of an easier-to-play, smaller-court version of tennis called ‘red ball tennis’.

“You can begin tennis at any age. We believe that when you do begin this great sport of tennis, it’s probably best to begin it on a shorter court with a larger, low-compression red ball. What’s an ideal short court? A pickleball court,” Hainline said.