Evert advocates for pickleball: "I see a lot of older people playing it and loving it"

Chris Evert becomes the latest tennis player to speak out favourably about pickleball, the sport that has taken the US by storm and which borrows heavily from tennis.

Pickleball is a proper sensation in the US as the sport exploded seemingly overnight. Its popularity of it is so high that there are professional leagues being established and TV deals being signed. Many tennis players have spoken out favourably about it and Chris Evert became the latest one.

She spoke in contrast to what Rennae Stubbs wrote on Twitter about the sport as the former doubles number one said:

"Just to let everyone know, I will NOT be investing in a Pickleball franchise & will never turn a tv on to watch Pickleball. I would rather watch paint dry. Why all these tennis players think Pickleball is worth investing in & not the game that made them all the $$$ is beyond me."

James Blake is one of those former players that is heavily invested in pickleball and he countered:

"Would be happy to discuss, but don’t understand why it has to be one or the other. They can exist separately and both be successful. Was anyone upset that I invested in basketball too? If you don’t like it, that’s cool, but tons do, including me."

Evert seemed to agree with Blake adding:

"I agree, and I see a lot of older people playing it and loving it, the competition, the exercise, the social aspect. I’m a fan."