NEW YORK — Does American tennis have a pickleball problem?
Even as the U.S. Open opened this week with more than a million fans expected for the sport's biggest showcase, the game's leaders are being forced to confront a devastating fact — the nation's fastest-growing racket sport (or sport of any kind) is not tennis but pickleball, which has seen participation boom 223% in the past three years.
"Quite frankly, it's obnoxious to hear that pickleball noise," U.S. Tennis Association President Dr. Brian Hainline grumbled at a recent state-of-the-game news conference, bemoaning the distinctive pock, pock, pock of pickleball points.