“Cornhole of racquet sports”- John McEnroe, Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf and Maria Sharapova fail at building the pickleball hype as Jack Sock’s victory garners unexpected reactions from fans
Former tennis player Jack Sock defeats the fourth-best Pickleball player in the world after transitioning to the sport recently.
Follow Us
Jack Sock (Source: Forbes)
Pickleball is said to be the fastest-growing sport in America. The sport can be considered a mini or different version of tennis, where the matches are played on a significantly shorter court with a hollow plastic ball and paddles.
Most tennis fans do not like pickleball, and some do not even consider it a ‘real sport’ because they think that it is extremely easy to play. A recent match between a former World No. 2 tennis player and an elite pickleball player proved their point.
Just like tennis has the ATP and the WTA tours, pickleball also has the PPA Tour, and the Hyundai Masters is one of the pickleball competitions that is currently going on. Former tennis player Jack Sock is participating in the tournament, and he defeated the 4th best pickleball player in the world today in the round of 16, and that too with ease.
Jack Sock was a pretty well-established doubles player. He won four singles titles and 17 doubles titles in his decorated career and had a career-best doubles ranking of World No. 2 and a career-best singles ranking of World No. 8.
He beat Connor Garnett 4-11, 11-9, and 11-2 in the round of 16 of the Hyundai Masters and has thus made his way into the quarterfinals. He proceeded to reach the semifinals before losing out to Federico Staksrud.
The American player retired from tennis last year after playing in the 2023 US Open. He made it to the final of the men’s doubles event with his partner, John Isner. Following his retirement, he decided to start playing pickleball, and he has already become pretty good at the sport.
Fans react to Jack Sock’s victory against Connor Garnett
The fact that Jack Sock transitioned from tennis to pickleball just recently and has already defeated one of the best players in the sport has provided leverage to the fans who did not like pickleball to begin with and did not rate the sport very highly.
Many fans started pointing out on Twitter that this proves that the sport should not be taken seriously.
Pickleball being taken seriously is laughable.Wrote a fan on Twitter.
Wtf is pickleball? Is it another of those thousand sports nobody cares about outside usa?Someone else pointed out.
Sharing a wide spectrum of reactions online, here’s what fans have to say:
The Pickleball Slam 2 is set to start on 4th February and it will feature four tennis legends, namely Andre Agassi, John McEnroe, Steffi Graf, and Maria Sharapova, fighting for a $1 million cash purse. It is a flagship event of the sport and its concerning to see that the image of the sport has been somewhat tarnished just ahead of the event by Jack Sock’s victory.
In case you missed it:
- Holger Rune achieves major career milestone in France as he signs up in the same league as Bjorn Borg and Mats Wilander
- “It slipped out of my hand,” Nick Kyrgios’ Washington Open moment epically reincarnated by a young fan on social media
Stay Updated!
Rishab Dutta
(794 Articles Published)