Rachel Stuhlmann: Pickleball Isn't 'Wreaking Havoc' On Tennis, We Can All Coexist

Rachel Stuhlmann, the world's No. 1 ranked tennis influencer, says it's time to pump the brakes on the hysteria surrounding pickleball and the sport "wreaking havoc" on a sport that she loves.

Even as cities across the United States announce more and more plans to convert tennis courts to pickleball courts -- Salt Lake City recently announced a plan to convert courts instead of building new courts after "overwhelming" support of such a project -- Stuhlmann believes citizens playing some form of her beloved sport is great news for everyone involved.

She's even getting into the pickleball business with a new project that sounds like the Top Golf of Tennis. She's capitalizing on all aspects of hitting a ball on a court.

Rachel Stuhlmann, named the world's No. 1 ranked tennis influencer by the OutKick Culture Department, says tennis and pickleball can coexist. (Photo by Arden S. Barnes/For The Washington Post via Getty Images)

" is not 'wreaking havoc' on tennis," the former University of Missouri tennis player told OutKick. "I think pickleball is a great and healthy social activity for people. Sometimes it is annoying to go to courts and see that they’re being used as pickleball courts or converted into Pickleball courts.

Stuhlmann, who has been called the Paige Spiranac of Tennis due to her massive social media following, stands by her belief that two sports can coexist and benefit each other even as cases pop up like the September Santa Monica pickleball arson which looks to be a targeted attack on the sport.

"When it comes to the two sports, it seems like right now more people play pickleball than watch it, and more people watch tennis than play it," Stuhlmann continued. "Pickleball is easy for anyone to pick up while tennis can be intimidating to some people. That’s why my mission has always been to make the sport more mainstream, relatable, and accessible."

"Professional pickleball is interesting- what other sport can you pick up for the first time in your 20s, 30s, or 40s and be the top 10 ranked players in the world? No other sport."

According to the latest statistics, about 35% of the nearly 45,000 pickleball courts in North America are converted tennis courts. Martina Navratilova, who won 18 grand slam titles during her tennis career, famously tweeted in 2022 that pickleball players should pay for their own courts and leave tennis alone.

Stuhlmann is way less militant. She's not picking a side in this fight even though she's one of the great influencers of the 21st century who could put her foot down in full support of tennis, but she understands that people playing in general is great for business.

"I’m currently working with a company that is creating a tennis Topgolf concept that is going to give people the opportunity to play tennis in a social, inclusive, and fun way," she wrote via an Instagram direct message.

See, there is still growth for tennis while pickleball explodes. The United States Tennis Association said earlier this year that tennis participation increased by one million players in 2022 and with 23.6 million tennis players, the sport has more participation than pickleball, badminton, racquetball and squash combined.

Rachel's not ready to reveal too many details on the Topgolf/tennis project, but it just goes to show that there's actual investment in court sports in a country that hasn't had an American male win a major title since 2003.

As for Navratilova, by May of this year she had changed her tune on pickleball.

"The more racquet sports the merrier," she tweeted.

In September, 29-year-old Eugenie Bouchard (2.4M Instagram followers), a former Wimbledon finalist who was a former world No. 5 ranked player, announced she was turning pro in pickleball. It was hailed as one of the biggest racquet sport moves of the year.

The coexistence that Stuhlmann is preaching seems to be resonating. Now it's just a matter of the militants finally realizing that there is a path forward.

Stuhlmann seems to be the perfect influencer at the perfect time to make it happen.