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James Blake recently hit back at pickleball professional Christian Alshon for the latter's views on tennis and pickleball.
Alshon played tennis for the University of Chicago, to begin with, but picked up the pickleball paddle in June 2021. He notably won the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III championship a couple of weeks before shifting roles.
On the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) tour, Alshon is currently placed fifth in the rankings. He, however, has landed in controversy over a claim that he made on X (formerly Twitter) recently. The 31-year-old Boca Raton resident stated that pickleball has contributed to his athleticism more than his previous job did.
"Pickleball has made me a much better athlete than Tennis ever did. Faster reaction time and speed are needed since the ball is only coming from 10 feet away. Point for point, pickleball requires more skill than tennis," he wrote.
Alshon's statement rubbed former World No. 4 James Blake the wrong way as the latter took a dig at him for his performance in his previous job.
"Haha. That might be because you were playing a pretty low level of tennis. Maybe if you were familiar with the athleticism it takes to excel at the sport you would realize how ridiculous this statement is," Blake wrote in a reply to the pickleball professional's tweet.
Blake's take, however, found opposition from a user, who wrote:
"I like James a lot but Alshon was the seventh ranked recruit in the 2019 class. Low level of tennis? Good lord"
At this, Blake doubled down and further ridiculed Alshon, saying:
"He has the same number of division 1 college wins as my daughter. (She's 11)"
The former World No. 4's sarcastic remark drew a reaction from Jessica Pegula. She simply dropped three skull emojis under Blake's tweet, not long after beating Amanda Anisimova 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) in the second round of the Charleston Open.
Pegula will next take on Poland's Magda Linette in the third round of the Charleston Open. The American notably received a bye in the first round owing to her first-seed status.
Tennis coach Rennae Stubbs tells Christian Alshon to "delete" his controversial tweet
Australian tennis coach Rennae Stubbs too rebuked Christian Alshon for his controversial claim. She went on X (formerly Twitter) and told Alshon to remove the tweet that has become the point of contention.
"Dude you really need to delete this tweet," Stubbs stated.
In a second reply to Alshon's tweet, Stubbs posted 34 emojis out of which 32 were 'face with tears of joy'.
Stubbs competed on the WTA Tour from the year 1992 to 2011. The Aussie achieved the majority of her success on the doubles circuit, winning four Grand Slam titles in doubles and two in mixed doubles.
