Andy Roddick sent Andre Agassi another humorous jab, calling him and Steffi Graf the underdogs for Pickleball Slam 3 and joking about how often he has played the sport in the last three years.
Roddick will team up with Eugenie Bouchard in February 2025 against Agassi and Graf. Bouchard has played almost no tennis this year to focus on pickleball, which might help their chances.
Agassi is aware of this. In a promotional clip, the eight-time Grand Slam champion stated that he planned to target Roddick during the match because Bouchard has regularly been playing pickleball.
Bouchard noticed Agassi's comments. She responded by saying it sounded like Agassi was scared of her despite the match not starting for another few months. However, the Canadian will have to manage increased expectations from being the pickleball pro on the court.
The tournament's history adds an additional level of intrigue. Roddick and Agassi teamed up to win the maiden iteration of the Pickleball Slam in 2023, overcoming fellow American Grand Slam champions John McEnroe and Michael Chang.
However, Agassi played with Graf for Pickleball Slam 2. The married couple defeated McEnroe and Maria Sharapova, consigning McEnroe to a second consecutive loss at the event.
Roddick recently spoke about Agassi deciding to team up with Graf for the last two years of the Pickleball Slam, jokingly saying that he had been kicked off the team despite carrying him in Pickleball Slam 1.
Bouchard being the youngest of the four players and a regular pickleball player might make her and Roddick seem like favorites on paper, but Agassi and Graf showed last year how formidable a team they can be.
In the latest promotional video for Pickleball Slam 3, Roddick had no doubts about him and Bouchard being the favorites and then made a hilarious joke about Agassi playing pickleball constantly during the last three years.
"Andre and Steffi are absolutely the underdogs. Steffi's great, I will never say anything bad about Stef but they are the underdogs even in the face of Andre playing eight hours of pickleball a day for the last three years of his life. I mean, who thought it would ever come to that?"
The previous two editions of the Pickleball Slam were highly successful, and it is very likely that the third will be as well. The humorous trash talk between the two players generates further attention surrounding the event.
Agassi and Roddick's commitment to participating in Pickleball Slam 3 does not mean they are no longer involved in tennis. John McEnroe was officially replaced as Team World's Laver Cup captain by Agassi for 2025.
Roddick gives tennis insights during episodes of his podcast Served with Andy Roddick. He recently described Jannik Sinner's dominance in the season's closing stages as absurd and a joke.
Figures like Graf, Agassi, and Roddick staying involved in tennis is good for the sport. Hopefully, the recently retired Rafael Nadal will also remain visible since the 14-time French Open champion's brand of tennis will be missed.