James Blake is a former World No. 4 and a Davis Cup champion with Team U.S.A – his endorsement of Pickleball has earned him the wrath of fans.
Former American Tennis star James Blake is receiving massive hate on Twitter for speaking in favour of ‘Pickleball‘. Blake is one of the most famous Tennis star to have come out of the US but Tennis fans have been terribly offended by his recent comments in favour of Pickleball. Blake has gone defensive on social media after receiving a lot of flak for the last couple of days but he has stuck to his stance and not apologised for his comments.
Blake represented the US with great success from 1999-2013. He won 17 ATP titles during his professional career besides winning the 2007 Davis with Team USA. He was also a part of the US team, that won the Hopman Cup twice – 2003 and 2004.
Pickleball is a popular racket sport which is widely considered to be very similar to Tennis. Fans see it as a rival to their favourite and have often complained that it gets more showtime than Tennis. Blake’s comments seem to have hurt their sentiments and it is quite a tricky situation for the player-turned-commentator.
Why are Tennis fans outraged by Pickleball?
Tennis fans are terribly disappointed by the reduction in coverage of Tennis matches on the Tennis Channel over the last couple of years. The ‘Tennis Channel’ is supposed to be the ‘Home of Tennis’ but has been dividing the showtimes of Tennis and professional Pickleball matches in the recent past.
Pickleball continues to increase in popularity in the US, with pro tournaments packing stands and pickleball courts popping up around the country like daisies. As a result, Tennis Channel have bought the exclusive rights to telecast the sport on their platform. In 2021, Tennis Channel aired its first ever live pickleball tournament, the Orlando Cup, in Orlando, Florida.
While the Tennis Channel is meant to exclusively cover ATP and WTA tournaments, they didn’t want to miss out on making profits out of Pickleball. The sports’s “unprecedented growth” in recent years has been on Tennis Channel’s radar for a while , revealed John MacDonald, senior vice president, content programming, Tennis Channel while officially announcing the tie-up with PPA. As the sport continues to grow rapidly, Tennis fans are beginning to see Pickleball as a threat to Tennis.
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