Does American Tennis Have a Pickleball Problem? Upstart’s Boom Looms out of View at the US Open

Does American Tennis Have a Pickleball Problem? Upstart’s Boom Looms out of View at the US Open
People practice pickleball on the courts of CityPickle at Central Park's Wollman Rink in New York on Aug. 24, 2024. Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AP Photo
The Associated Press
Updated:

NEW YORK—Does American tennis have a pickleball problem?

Even as the U.S. Open opened this week with more than a million fans expected for the sport’s biggest showcase, the game’s leaders are being forced to confront a devastating fact—the nation’s fastest-growing racket sport (or sport of any kind) is not tennis but pickleball, which has seen participation boom 223 percent in the past three years.