If I had a choice between watching tennis and watching pickleball, I'd choose tennis.
Not only is tennis far more athletic - almost like fencing with a ball - it sounds and looks so much better. In tennis, the audible whack at the point of contact with the ball is so satisfying. Pickleball sounds, by contrast, are squeaky and annoying.
Pickleball is more accessible to new and older players, though. And that counts for something.
Venus Williams is in her 40's, after a long career as a tennis pro. I assure you that if she could still play high-level tennis, she would, but she is well past retirement age (and the associated physical condition) in that sport. Pickleball is the sport she can still play.
1. change: "high-level" -> "the highest professional levels". I'd wager Venus could play well easily until her 60s if not longer. There are many levels in tennis. There is are a range of competitive club levels. How often and how intensely she plays is another question.
2. Change: "the" -> "one" (w.r.t. "Pickleball is the sport she can still play.)
Stepping back, in my view, some of the most interesting questions are psychological and personal. If you were to talk to a hundred former tennis pros about aging, what would they say? How much do they play? How does it feel? How do they shift their mindset as their bodies age? To what degree is tennis still fun for them?
Venus Williams just crashed out of the first round of the U.S. Open, but she was ranked 407 in the world prior to that. She’s plagued by injuries, beset by problems from the autoimmune disorder Sjögrens Syndrome and a shadow of what she once was, but she’s still playing “high-level tennis”.
