"What are you clapping at?": John McEnroe jibes Jack Sock for turning to pickleball after retiring from tennis

John McEnroe teased Jack Sock for taking up pickleball after retiring from professional tennis in 2023. The 2017 Paris Masters champion decided to retire at 30 years old in August last year and joined other former tennis players like Sam Querrey and Eugenie Bouchard who switched from tennis to pickleball.

A video recently surfaced from an event prior to the Pickleball Slam 2 in February this year. On stage were Sock, John McEnroe, Andre Agassi, Maria Sharapova, and James Blake, when 'Johnny Mac' decided to poke fun at him: "We're still tennis players right guys? Except for Jack," he said.

Later, McEnroe approached Sock to express his regret about his decision to become a pickleball player and reminisced about Sock's participation in the Laver Cup, where McEnroe was captain of Team World and they together won the first trophy in 2022: "Jack, I wanna say goodbye man. I can’t believe he helped me win the Laver Cup, I lost four times in a row. This guy helped us win the Laver Cup and then he becomes a professional pickleball player," the 65-year-old added.

The crowd present applauded Jack Sock, but McEnroe told them not to: "What are you clapping at? I’m not complimenting," he said.

Later, James Blake joined the interaction and asked McEnroe if he would switch roles with Sock: "I think he should coach you in pickleball because you coached him in Laver Cup. Wouldn’t that feel pretty good," Blake said.

"I’m an old man, get me Jack Sock," McEnroe responded.