Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf defeat Andy Roddick, Eugene Bouchard's team to take home 1 million pickleball prize money
Team Agassi defeated Team Roddick to win Pickleball Slam 3 on Sunday, in Las Vegas.
Andre Agassi and his team came out victorious at Pickleball Slam 3, to take home 1 million dollars on Sunday. The event was held in Las Vegas’ Michelbob Ultra Arena where Team Agassi took on a side led by Andy Roddick.
Fans got to see Agassi extend his undefeated streak and become the reigning three-time champion, after entering the event with a target on his back.
Also Read: Ivan Lendl changes his mind on pickleball: 'Hated it too at first and then I played a few times'
The first match saw Agassi and Roddick face-off in a singles match, where the former reigned supreme with a straight-set win. Then in the next match, Steffi Graf partnered special guest and Olympic silver medallist Fish, while Eugene Bouchard teamed up with John Isner. The match saw Graf and Fish come out on top, winning in straight sets.
Then Agassi, Graff took on Roddick and Bouchard in the most-awaited match. Agassi and Graf won the first game, 15-9. Then Roddick, Bouchard staged a comeback to win 15-10, pushing it to the decider , which they won again. The competition was sent to a tiebreaker, where Team Agassi claimed victory.
Pickleball was invented in 1965 in Washington state, USA. Meanwhile in 2022, it was named as Washington’s official state sport. It is similar to tennis, table tennis on a doubles badminton court, but with different rules, paddles and court lines. After its introduction, it became popular in the USA. It was named as the fastest growing sport in USA in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Due to its growing popularity, the Association of Pickleball Players (APP) was formed in 2019. Then Major League Pickleball came up in 2021, followed by National Pickleball League of Champions Pros in 2022. In 2023 the PPA and MLP merged to form the United Pickleball Association.
Meanwhile in 2024, a new international professional pickleball organisation was formed, the Pickleball World Rankings. The rankings will see players earn points to improve their rankings by participations in PWR World Tour tournaments.