"They need to call it something cooler, I'd be embarrassed to tell people I played something called pickleball" - Tennis fans express dislike for the racquet sport that's gaining in popularity in America

In the last few years, pickleball has gained unbelievable popularity in the United States and is continuing to reach more and more people. The craze for the sport is such that in 2021, a professional league called Major League Pickleball was created.

Although the sport has recently started gaining traction, it was invented long ago in 1965 in Washington by the former Lieutenant Governor of the state, Joel Pritchard, and his friends Barney McCallum and Bill Bell. On March 28, 2022, Washington declared the racquet sport its official state sport.

A couple of notable differences between the two sports are the varying length of the courts. While the tennis court is approximately 23.77 meters long, that of the newer sport is 13.4 meters. The balls used are hard polymer balls that have a much lower bounce than tennis balls.

Tennis fans do not seem pleased with the new sport at all, finding themselves compelled to make fun of the name and suggesting that it is for lazy people who cannot work hard enough on a tennis court.

"They don't need to be on a tennis court. They could play in a backyard, a driveway, etc. They don't even need a tennis net (could tie a rope). They want to have the prestige of a tennis court, so it elevates pickle ball's stature," a fan tweeted.

"If they want to be taken seriously, they need to call it something else, something cooler. PaddleGladiator, I dunno. I'd be embarrassed to tell people I played something called Pickle-Ball," a user wrote.

"Spicy take: I hate pickle ball. All my local tennis courts have been full tf up with 30yo playing a trendy version of badminton on 50% of the court they’re using 100% of. Have you tried tennis? It’s great," another tweet read.

Here are a few more fan reactions:

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"I recently came across the pickleball court and it clicked, this is where I belong" - Noah Rubin swaps tennis for pickleball

Noah Rubin won the junior Wimbledon championship in 2014

A few weeks ago, 2104 Junior Wimbledon champion Noah Rubin announced that he was leaving tennis. On October 10, the 26-year-old revealed his plans to become a professional pickleball player.

In an interview with ESPN, the American stated that the tennis court was too big to cover, and as soon as he came across the sport, he knew he belonged there.

"The tennis court is just way too big and there's way too much ground to cover," Rubin said, adding, "I recently came across the pickleball court and it clicked, this is where I belong, this is home now. And in this sport, size doesn't matter."