Tennis Prose




Sep/22

26

Sam Querrey Challenges Pickleball Top Guns

Recently retired Sam Querrey has targeted his first new challenge after retiring from pro tennis at the US Open. “I know some tennis players have made the transition from tennis to pickleball, but you haven’t seen any guys who were top 50 in the world tennis players go over (to compete in Pickleball). And I think that’s what some people want to know, that’s what I want to know, so I’m hoping to put that test out there and I’m hoping to be one of the best (Pickleball) players.”

Querrey said this on Tyson McGuffin’s You Tube show, McGuffin is one of the best Pickleball players in America, he just won the prestigious Baird Wealth Management Open in Mason, Ohio this month.

The challenging comments made by Querrey were fully supported by the tennis community, with Vasek Pospisil saying, “Let’s f***** go!”

Murphy Jensen said, “Let’s Go Sam The Man!”

Donald Young: “This is lit!”

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8 comments

  • Bill McGill · September 27, 2022 at 11:23 am

    I have only played pickleball a couple of times and I have a low opinion of the sport compared to other, fun racquet sports like platform tennis, touch tennis and padel, but if platform tennis is any guide, he’s going to be no. 1 in the world within a short time. Every former tennis pro that takes up platform tennis becomes phenomenal at it. Jared Palmer (former world no. 1 ATP doubles player) picked up platform at age 40 and within a couple of years was the best platform player in the world. Mark Parsons, All American at Tennessee, never got ATP points, but has some ITF points and played Davis Cup for Canada become the no. 1 platform tennis player as Palmer aged. Johan Du Randt (career high 220 rank) is the current no. 1. Juan Arraya, another guy that didn’t make it on the tour but had some ITF points, is in his late 40s and is simultaneously one of the best platform tennis players in the world and one of the top pickleball players (despite picking up pickleball during covid and playing only sporadically). Sven Burrus is another guy with a couple of ITF points and currently one of the top platform tennis players. Probably any guy on the tour could easily become one of the top players in any of these tennis-like racquet sports.

    I’m curious if they could do the same thing in squash. My guess is they cannot, that the strokes and reverse footwork are sufficiently different from tennis that it would be much harder to achieve the same thing. But I might be wrong.

  • Scoop Malinowski · September 27, 2022 at 11:55 am

    Bill, it’s going to be very interesting to see if Querrey can step in and take out these pickle ball heroes. The top guy now Tyson McGuffin was a 5.5 level player which is very very good but nothing compared to Querrey. The pressure will be on both when they eventually square off. I hope they make a big deal exhibition out of it, call it “The Ultimate Showdown: Tennis vs Pickleball.” Now that Battle of Sexes has been forever retired because the women don’t want to lose what they gained from the very suspect and probably corrupt King vs Riggs match which King ducked out of the promised rematch.

  • Scoop Malinowski · September 27, 2022 at 12:00 pm

    Bill, I don’t know enough about squash or platform tennis, having never played either, I’m sure any very good tennis player can adapt and succeed at those sports but to dominate – not likely and I haven’t heard of it happening. Jared Palmer was a Grand Slam champion I believe so it’s not a surprise he got to no. 1 in platform but he surely had to work hard to do it. I know some very accomplished ping pong and badminton players who adapted and became excellent tennis players.

  • catherine · September 28, 2022 at 2:24 am

    Shall I say this for the 100th time ?

    There was no ‘rematch’ planned and BJK didn’t back out of it.

    I hate to admit it but that was my era Scoop, not yours.

  • Scoop Malinowski · September 28, 2022 at 7:35 am

    Catherine, I was told by an insider and I read this also, that BJK agreed to a rematch but reneged on the promise.

  • Scoop Malinowski · September 28, 2022 at 9:16 pm

    Catherine, did you see Angie Kerber is writing her autobiography now?

  • MATT SEGEL · September 29, 2022 at 10:27 am

    Personally I like Touch Tennis about million times better than pickleball. Pickleball ruins my tennis game, touch tennis does not and it’s super fun. It’s only in Europe though.

  • Scoop Malinowski · September 29, 2022 at 12:43 pm

    Matt, it’s a sign of concern that all these variations of tennis are popping up now and thriving – pickle, padel, touch tennis which looks super fun too. Then there are the old staples like badminton and table tennis and even racquetball and squash. So that is eight variations of the basic game with a racquet/paddle, a ball and a net. No other basic sport compares.

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