Fans left furious as broadcaster chooses pickleball match over Gauff vs Andreescu

Sunday, 16 October 2022 at 00:00

Updated at Saturday, 16 November 2024 at 12:52

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byZachary Wimer

The Tennis Channel did something that left lots of tennis fans furious because the tennis channel switched from a tennis match to a pickleball match mid-broadcast.

The Tennis Channel has emerged as one of the leading tennis media outlets and broadcasters in the world, mostly in the United States. Not only do they cover events regularly with panels of experts, including former players like Andy Roddick, but they also show those matches.

It’s any tennis fan's dream basically because they can watch tennis non-stop. That’s at least in principle, and while they adhere to it most of the time, recently, they didn’t.

Some matches of the ongoing San Diego Open were interrupted to show pickleball highlights. Pickleball is an emerging racket sport in the United States, and the interruption of a tennis match by a pickleball match has antagonized lots of tennis fans.

Not only are tennis courts in the United States being converted to pickleball courts, but the heavy media narrative around it pits it as a rival to tennis.

Due to all of that, switching from a live tennis match to a live pickleball match didn’t leave too many happy, especially not on the tennis channel, and fans voiced their displeasure on social media.

For example, a match between Coco Gauff and Bianca Andreescu at the San Diego Open was interrupted in the third set to show some pickleball highlights from an event in Texas. One fan voiced his displeasure, calling it pathetic.

"Receiving more troubling reports about the Tennis Channel tonight. Absolutely pathetic. Have some shame."

Former player Rennae Stubbs, who is part of the tennis media these days with her own podcast, reacted to that tweet by simply adding a facepalm emoji. That paints a pretty clear picture of how she feels about it.

More generally, it is somewhat troubling that a TV channel explicitly named 'Tennis Channel' shows highlights from another sport, one that is being promoted as a rival to tennis.