Throughout the spectacular rise of pickleball in the U.S., American tennis has always insisted that there was no war between the two sports. More people picking up rackets of any kind, the U.S. Tennis Association argued, could only be a good thing.
But on at least one front, there is no longer any denying that tennis and pickleball are in direct conflict. The battle for court space has arrived—and tennis is losing ground fast. Today, the USTA says, at least 10% of tennis courts in America have been taken over and repurposed for pickleball.
“There are not enough courts to support tennis growth,” says USTA chief executive Lew Sherr. “And court infrastructure being compromised with people playing pickleball on those courts or courts being repainted.”
The land grab should come as no surprise considering pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in America, according to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association. In February, the SFIA reported a 223.5% increase in participation since the pickleball boom began three years ago, with more than 10 million people picking up a pickleball paddle over the past 12 months. And all of those new players are now spread across 65,000 courts at some 15,500 facilities nationwide, according to USA Pickleball.
“If I was in tennis’s shoes, I know that that wouldn’t be something I would appreciate either,” USA Pickleball CEO Mike Nealy said. “The market will find its way.”
Players play pickleball in a park in Florida. PHOTO: DIRK SHADD/ZUMA PRESS
The problem is all the more urgent for tennis as the sport experiences its own revival. The USTA expects to surpass 24.5 million players this year and has set itself a goal of having 35 million players by 2035. Sherr chalks up the growth of his sport, in part, to the pandemic—people were handed more flexibility in their work schedules and tennis was a socially distanced activity.
“But at a time that tennis is growing and experiencing really unprecedented growth, it does create stress,” Sherr says. “We’re trying, as best we can, to support tennis infrastructure.”
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