Know What Tennis Influencer Rachel Stuhlmann Has To Say About Pickleball Which May Be “Wreaking Havoc” Tennis
The No. 1 tennis influencer in the world, Rachel Stuhlmann, believes it’s time to put a stop to the panic around pickleball and how it’s “wreaking havoc” on a sport she adores, which is tennis.
Despite the fact that more and more American cities are announcing plans to convert tennis courts into pickleball courts — Salt Lake City recently announced a plan to convert courts rather than build new courts after receiving “overwhelming” support for such a project — Stuhlmann thinks that having citizens participate in some form of her favorite sport is fantastic for everyone involved.
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With a new concept that sounds like the Top Golf of Tennis, she is even entering the pickleball industry. She is maximizing every potential benefit of hitting a ball on a court.
“[Pickleball] is not ‘wreaking havoc’ on tennis,” Rachel, who was the former University of Missouri tennis player, told OutKick. “I think pickleball is a great and healthy social activity for people. Sometimes it is annoying to go to courts and see that they’re being used as pickleball courts or converted into Pickleball courts.”
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Due to her significant social media following, Stuhlmann has been dubbed the Paige Spiranac of Tennis. Despite incidents like the September Santa Monica pickle ball arson, which appears to be an intentional attack on the sport, Stuhlmann maintains her stance that two sports can live and benefit from one another.
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“When it comes to the two sports, it seems like right now more people play pickleball than watch it, and more people watch tennis than play it,” Stuhlmann continued. “Pickleball is easy for anyone to pick up while tennis can be intimidating to some people. That’s why my mission has always been to make the sport more mainstream, relatable, and accessible.”
“Professional pickleball is interesting- what other sport can you pick up for the first time in your 20s, 30s, or 40s and be the top 10 ranked players in the world? No other sport.”
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The most recent numbers show that around 35% of the nearly 45,000 pickleball courts in North America were formerly tennis courts. During her tennis career, Martina Navratilova won 18 grand slam titles. In 2022, she made headlines when she famously tweeted that pickleball players should pay for their own courts and leave tennis alone.
Stuhlmann is far less aggressive. Even though she is one of the most powerful figures of the twenty-first century and could declare her unwavering support for tennis, she remains neutral in this debate because she recognizes the benefits of people playing tennis for business in general.
https://twitter.com/rstuhlmann/status/1710694120531132852
“I’m currently working with a company that is creating a tennis Topgolf concept that is going to give people the opportunity to play tennis in a social, inclusive, and fun way,” Through an Instagram direct message, Rachel Stuhlmann wrote.
Tennis is still growing, although pickleball is taking off. According to the United States Tennis Association, there will be one million more tennis players in 2022, and with 23.6 million players, tennis has a larger player base than pickleball, badminton, racquetball, and squash put together.
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Although Rachel isn’t yet ready to provide all the specifics of the Topgolf/tennis initiative, it only goes to show that there is real investment in court sports in a nation where no American male has won a major championship since 2003.
As for Navratilova, she had changed her mind on pickleball by May of this year.
“The more racquet sports the merrier,” she tweeted.
via @NYTimes– the more racquet sports the merrier:) https://t.co/9oh4WrVAZ3
— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) May 13, 2023
Eugenie Bouchard a former world No. 5 pickleball player and Wimbledon finalist, said in September that she will be entering the professional ranks of the sport. One of the year’s most important racquet sports moves, according to critics, was it.
It seems that Stuhlmann’s message of cohabitation is getting through. Just getting the extremists to acknowledge that there is a way forward is all that remains now.
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It appears that Rachel Stuhlmann is the ideal influencer at the ideal time to make it happen.
