The French Tennis Federation (FFT) and former French tennis pro Amélie Mauresmo put on pickleball demonstrations on the red clay of Roland-Garros during this year’s tournament, The Dink reports. The FFT has embraced the American sport and is petitioning the French government to hold a national championship.
The demonstration took place on court five, and it was Mauresmo’s first time. “I didn’t really know what to expect,” she said. “I haven’t watched pickleball on TV. You can have fun quite quickly in this sport. The rules are just a little bit different, so you have to adjust, but it doesn’t take very long to do that.” Fans, too, were welcome to try the game.
“You have to get used to the rules,” said FFT President Gilles Moretton. “I didn’t know all the rules at the beginning, but then it’s much easier than tennis. So I think pickleball is going to be big in France.”
Two years ago, the FFT conducted the same experiment with pádel, another sport it has since embraced. By The Dink’s estimate, pádel boasts about 34,000 courts in France, against pickleball’s 300. Like other countries, however, France is converting tennis and basketball courts to pickleball.
According to The Dink, a spokesperson for the US Tennis Association, which runs the US Open, said no it has no plans to embrace pickleball or pádel.
