"Come to pickleball, you might be able to break top 10"- Nick Kyrgios teased by Christian Alshon after Aussie mocks skill level required for the sport
Nick Kyrgios had his legs pulled by pickleball player Christian Alshon after he took a swing at the skill level required to play the sport in response to a claim made originally by Alshon.
Alshon, a former collegiate tennis player who made the switch to pickleball, boldly asserted that pickleball requires more skill than tennis, stating that it needs a faster reaction time and speed than the latter.
"Pickleball has made me a much better athlete than Tennis ever did. Faster reaction time and speed are needed since the ball is only coming from 10 feet away. Point for point, pickleball requires more skill than tennis," Alshon said.
The tennis community, including players and fans, did not take kindly to this claim, and flooded Alshon's replies with their counter argument.
Kyrgios was among those, as the former World No. 13 commented that it was a "wild" thought and joked about Alshon downing too many tequilas before making the post.
"Yeah. Let’s hide under the bed after this statement hahahaha bro get me the best pickleball player and compare his talent to Roger Federer. Wild tweet, wild thought. Delete right now. I love pickle. But you had too many tequilas," Kyrgios replied.
Christian Alshon then shot back at the former Wimbledon runner-up, saying that the potential of the player pool in pickleball is yet to be fully explored. He believes, therefore, that it's not fair to compare players of both sports just yet, while pickleball is still in its infancy.
Alshon went on to tease Nick Kyrgios, remarking that if the Aussie switched sports to pickleball, he might finally know how it feels to be a top-10 player.
"We’ve barely scratched the surface of pickleball’s potential. Imagine if pickleball had more athletes like Federer, Djokovic, and Alcaraz. Then we could compare. Come to pickleball, you might be able to break the top 10," Alshon shot back.
Nick Kyrgios on sidelines undergoing rehab for a wrist injury
Nick Kyrgios had a good year in 2022 was a good year for Nick Kyrgios, making his maiden Grand Slam final at Wimbledon.
Unfortunately, he didn;t receive any ranking points for his display, as the ATP had stripped the tournament of points following SW19's ban on Russian and Belarusian tennis players during the Ukraine war.
Just when it looked like he was on the ascendancy, disaster struck for the 28-year-old, as he spent nearly all of 2023 recovering from a knee injury sustained at the end of 2022. He was expected to be back in time for 2024, but an untimely wrist injury pushed back his timeline further.
However, Kyrgios has assured fans recently that his rehab is going well and that he might be back in action soon. Because of his prolonged absence, the Aussie is now unranked on the ATP Tour.