When it comes to tennis transitioning into pickleball, the highlight match of the year’s first professional pickleball tournament, The Masters, held in Palm Springs, California, featured three former ATP professionals and a former collegiate player who once ranked in the NCAA Top 10.
Former Davis Cup teammates Donald Young and Jack Sock squared off in a doubles match alongside their partners, Travis Rettenmaier and Collin Shick.
Rettenmaier, who began his professional tennis career in 2002, switched to pickleball in 2020, joining the PPA Tour. Meanwhile, Shick, the only player in the group without ATP experience, had an impressive college tennis career at North Carolina State, achieving a ranking of No. 6 in NCAA singles and No. 27 in doubles. Interestingly, Shick left medical school to dive into competitive pickleball in 2023.
In their round-of-32 clash, the 14th-seeded duo of Rettenmaier and Young triumphed over 20th-seeded Sock and Shick. After dominating the second game with a 7-0 lead, Rettenmaier and Young secured their win with scores of 11-6, 12-10.
However, Young’s success ended there. He later fell to Roscoe Bellamy, a former collegiate tennis player and the No. 13 seed, in singles with identical scores of 11-6, 11-6. Sock also faced disappointment in mixed doubles, where he partnered with Genie Bouchard. They were defeated in 41 minutes by AJ Koller and Meghan Dizon, the No. 13 seeds. While Koller has a background in recreational tennis, Dizon played at the collegiate level before turning professional in pickleball.
Despite these setbacks, Sock advanced to the round of 16 in singles and will face fifth-seeded Dylan Frazier. Bouchard also progressed in singles after an impressive comeback against No. 21 seed Hannah Blatt, setting up a match against second seed Brooke Buckner. Buckner, who played for the University of Michigan and later coached at the University of North Carolina, now holds the No. 2 singles ranking on the PPA Tour.
Day two of the tournament saw the world’s top-ranked players, Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns, taking to the courts. The pair breezed into the round of 16 in mixed doubles with an 11-2, 11-6 win. Both also advanced in their respective doubles events, spending a combined 88 minutes and three seconds on the court.
Additionally, Tyson McGuffin, star of the Making McGuffins PickleballTV series, secured spots in the round of 16 for both singles and mixed doubles.
The tournament continues on PickleballTV, with live coverage every day starting at 4 p.m. ET through Sunday, January 12.
