A percentage of these former tennis players also coached, with a handful attributing their time at country clubs to their introduction to pickleball. Tyson McGuffin, who briefly competed collegiately and professionally, was a head tennis pro for six years before finding his passion on the pickleball court.
For some pro pickleball players, tennis was a catalyst into the fastest-growing sport. Anna Leigh Waters, arguably pickleball’s biggest star, was playing tennis (and soccer) before becoming the youngest pickleball pro at 12 years old. There are also high school tennis players like Alix Truong who played first singles and doubles before transitioning into pickleball.
So Sock, Bouchard, Young and Querrey? We know them. But of 144 players currently listed on the PPA tour, 130 have some level of a tennis background, in other words—a whopping 90 percent.
