Four tennis superstars will compete in the inaugural 2023 Pickleball Slam tournament. Michael Chang, Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, and John McEnroe will participate in the tournament, which boasts a $1 million cash prize.
Horizon Sports & Experiences (HS&E) and InsideOut Sports & Entertainment (ISE) have partnered to co-produce the first Pickleball Slam Tournament, which will be held at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The event will be televised live on ESPN on April 2nd at 12pm Eastern, preceding the NCAA Division 1 Women’s Basketball Championship.
The event itself will include an amateur challenge running from March 31 to April 1, which will allow 96 doubles teams to compete for a $10,000 prize. The winners of this challenge will also get the opportunity to play a match against two of the tennis legends before the main event on April 2.
Horizon Sports & Experiences CEO David Levy recognizes pickleball as being a cultural phenomenon, as it continues to be the fastest growing sport in the United States. The Slam is the first event in a five-event series that HS&E, ISE, and Hard Rock have teamed up for.
“We look forward to bringing together four of America’s most iconic tennis legends for this groundbreaking competition, which heralds a new milestone for the fastest growing sport in America.”
David Levy, Co-CEO of Horizon Sports & Experiences
The Slam’s main event on April 2nd will begin with two singles matches of Roddick versus Chang and Agassi versus McEnroe. After the conclusion of these matches, the tennis stars will pair up for a final doubles match for the $1 million prize. Andre Agassi will team up with Andy Roddick and together they will face the team of John McEnroe and Michael Chang.
This isn’t the first time some of these tennis legends have met on the pickleball court. In 2018, Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick went head to head in a doubles pickleball match at the Paddle Battle by Latitude Margaritaville in Austin, TX. The main difference for this year’s 2023 Pickleball Slam, is that they will now be sharing the same side of the court.
Just watched Andre Agassi play Andy Roddick in pickleball tennis. Love that @garyvee was the no-name in this doubles matchup. SXSW is silly pic.twitter.com/8c9VNPoLRS
— Josh Constine 📶🔥 (@JoshConstine) March 10, 2018
All DUPR ranked amateur pickleball doubles teams are welcome to sign up to participate in the event at the Pickleball Slam’s website, here. Registration will cost $2,000 per team and is open until February 6, 2023, when the teams will then be selected via a lottery.
