GAME
CHANGE
Tennis is not dead , but more and more tennis purists are converting to pickleball , the fastest growing sport in the country . Pickleball is anyone ’ s game — will it become the new face of racket sports ?
By Alice Tym
Pickleball has moved to center stage , drawing diehard fans and “ addicts ” from age 9 to 90 ! Many of the game ’ s top pros and top senior players converted to pickleball from tennis .
Fred Drilling of Estero , Florida , is ranked # 2 in the U . S . and # 11 in the world in Men ’ s Singles 75s in tennis . He ’ s also won three gold and one silver medal at last year ’ s US Open Pickleball Championships . He was introduced to pickleball in 1976 in Washington , D . C ., and decided to enter a tournament . “ The competition was what inspired me . Both tennis and pickleball are very competitive at high levels , but in pickleball things happen more quickly ,” he says .