It can be said that money talks and it seems that for Novak Djokovic that is the case with his latest move. The 24-time Grand Slam champion will bizarrely play pickleball only one month after saying that the fledgling sport is endangering tennis.
Djokovic has signed up to play the pickleball event The Head NYC Mash Up prior to the US Open as announced by the tennis brand on their social media. It will be streamed live with Jannik Sinner and Barbora Krejcikova also playing as is pickleball star Callie Jo Smith. She is an 11 time tour champion and one of the flag bearers for the sport.
But it smacks of hypocrisy to some on social media as he will play a month after making comments at Wimbledon about how it will endanger tennis in the future and needing to protect the sport.
“Tennis, on one hand, is in a good place, but at the same time, when we look at Formula 1 for example and what they’ve done in terms of marketing, in terms of growth of the sport — in terms of the races around the world and how popular they are — I think we need to do a better job on our respective tours,” he said at Wimbledon.
“There are quite a bit of things for us to collectively look at and try to improve it,” he continued. “We need to grow the number of players that live from this sport.”
“You can build three paddle courts on one tennis court,” he said. “Do the simple math. It’s just much more financially viable for the owner of the club to have those courts.”
“In the grand scheme of things, we need to address all these challenges and issues. Because they’ve been out there for a while. I don’t think we’ve been addressing it in the proper way.”
Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.
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