'Pickleball can make it to Olympics': Agassi

Andre Agassi during the launch of the Pickleball World Rankings-DUPR India League at a city hotel yesterday. Pic/Ashish Raje

American tennis great Andre Agassi believes pickleball can make it to the Olympic Games sooner than anticipated. In the city to announce the launch of the Pickleball World Rankings-DUPR India League on Friday, Agassi, an eight-time Grand Slam champion, said pickleball has made racquet sports more accessible to the masses. He said that the sport is growing by leaps and bounds in USA and has great potential to be accepted in India too as the PWR-DUPR India League gets underway next month.

"Pickleball is going to add a great deal to this country, to our health, to our community, and much more. I can see it at the Olympics sooner than what we are hoping for. The game can be introduced to families to give a better quality of life to all," said Agassi.

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"In America, I have seen some good professional players play pickleball and this includes women in their 60s indulging in a fun game. The bottomline is that everyone is having the time of their lives, and that's what this sport brings to the table," added Agassi, insisting that it's a much easier sport than tennis.

"There are 30 million people playing pickleball in America, and believe me, it's still in its infancy. I will always defend tennis as the most difficult racquet sport in the world as it demands the maximum from you physically, mentally, emotionally. However, anybody can play pickleball, it's not intimidating. You can grab the paddle and believe me; you get better every 10 minutes," added the former World No. 1 tennis ace.