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James Blake has welcomed his fellow former tennis player Kim Clijsters to the league of athletic owners of Major League Pickleball with an amusing comment highlighting Clijsters' incredible tennis skills.
Pickleball is America's fastest-growing sport and has attracted a slew of star athlete owners like NBA legend LeBron James, former Super Bowl winner Drew Brees and James Blake, among others. Meanwhile, Blake and NBA team Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry own The Lions, one of 12 MLP teams this season. MLP is expanding to 16 teams next year.
Since her retirement, Clijsters has played pickleball regularly with Wall Street bond saleswoman Callie Simpkins and financial advisor Kaitlyn Kerr. The Belgian has now teamed up with NFL legend Tom Brady to become the co-owner of a new MLP team. Simpkins and Kerr will be part of the ownership group - led by Knighthead Capital Management - as part of MLP's expansion plan for 2023.
Blake tweeted about Clijsters' arrival on the scene, jokingly lamenting that he's no longer the 'best tennis player' in the group of athlete owners in the MLP. He tweeted:
"Welcome to the league Kim Clijsters. I started as the best athlete of the owners. Then Drew Brees came along. But at least I stayed the best tennis player. Now I've got nothing."
Pickleball is a sport that combines aspects of tennis, badminton and ping-pong and is played on outdoor badminton-sized courts 44 feet long. An estimated 4.8 million players played pickleball last year.
"I'm excited at the investment opportunity" - Kim Clijsters
MLP founder Steve Kuhn expressed delight at welcoming seven-time Super Bowl winner Brady and six-time Grand Slam winner Clijsters to the fold. He said:
“Tom Brady, Kim Clijsters, and Knighthead Capital Management are champions in their fields and will now be champions for Major League Pickleball. What really shines through in working with these amazing individuals is their passion for the sport."
He continued about the league's ambitious plans for pickleball:
"We are thrilled to welcome them to our unrivaled roster of strategic partners, who are individually and collectively instrumental in helping us elevate professional pickleball, showcase the joy it brings to millions of people around the globe, and further our ’40 by 30’ campaign – our mission to reach 40 million pickleball players by 2030.”
Clijsters, meanwhile, expressed her delight at playing a part in furthering the popularity of pickleball. She said that she was excited to "help shape" the future of the new and fledgling sport.
“Of course, I’m excited at the investment opportunity. But what excites me the most about becoming an MLP owner is that I get to help shape the future of pickleball, a sport I have come to love, with great people – who also happen to be some of my best friends. I’m thrilled to help showcase professional pickleball and make an impact on the sport through my experience gained in the top levels of professional tennis,” she said.
The 2022 MLP season finale will be in Columbus, Ohio, from October 14-16, where 48 players will compete for a purse of $319,000 - the largest in pickleball history.
