Put your money where you mouth is: Andy Roddick, Nick Kyrgios and James Blake offered $100,000 pickleball wager after heated debate

After pickleball pro, Christian Alshon found himself embroiled in a heated debate with Andy Roddick, Nick Kyrgios and James Blake, he has offered all three a wager in three back-to-back matches.

Alshon is currently ranked 12th in pickleball having previously played tennis. But he started his quest in 2021 to play the fledgling sport. He made headlines after saying that pickleball has made him a better athlete than tennis ever did.

"Pickleball has made me a much better athlete than tennis ever did. Faster reaction time and speed are needed since the ball is only coming from 10 feet away. Point for point, pickleball requires more skill than tennis," he wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

James Blake was first to hit back at Alshon. "That might be because you were playing a pretty low level of tennis. Maybe if you were familiar with the athleticism it takes to excel at the sport you would realize how ridiculous this statement is."

Kyrgios despite having a vested interest in pickleball even called the statement wild. "Yeah. Let's hide under the bed after this statement hahahaha bro get me the best pickleball player and compare his talent to Roger Federer. Wild tweet, wild thought. Delete right now I love pickle. But you had too many tequilas."

Before Andy Roddick said that he would commentate standing on his head if any pickleball player transfers to tennis and finds themselves with any sort of the same success as Jack Sock. "Tell you what. If anyone pickle person ever ranks higher in tennis than what [Jack] Sock will be at end of this year in his new paid pickle hobby, I’ll commentate a pickle match standing on my head."

But Alshon digested the replies and challenged the trio to put their money where their mouth is. He gave them six months and was that confident he said he'd donate his winnings to charity. "@NickKyrgios @JRBlake @andyroddick how about this. I challenge you three to back to back singles matches for 100K each. I’ll give you 2/1 odds which in your minds should be crazy good odds. You have 6 months to train. Don’t worry, I’ll donate my winnings to charity," Alshon wrote on X (formerly Twitter).