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“Maybe I should try pickleball,” mused former U.S. Open champ Daniil Medvedev as he lost in a tournament this week in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Medvedev, 30, has been struggling this season and likely wasn’t serious, but the jump from tennis to pickleball is not necessarily an easy one—and tennis players do not exactly have a natural proclivity to other racket sports. Despite racket skills not transferring, the week before the U.S. Open has become a ping pong and pickleball tournament of its own across New York hotels.
While out in Queens at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the official Fan Week offers free qualifying matches, exhibitions, practice sessions, and, since last year, the star-studded mixed doubles tournament, across Manhattan and Brooklyn, top tennis players are trading their rackets for ping pong paddles, pickleball paddles, and even Wii remotes. Tonight alone, at least three hotels are hosting table tennis events.
“There’s so much interest in rackets sports in general,” says Taylor Fritz, who is playing in the “Palace Invitational” at Lotte New York Palace alongside Serena Williams, Matteo Berrettini, and Caroline Wozniacki, tells T&C. “For me, [the interest] is a really good thing, it means tennis, pickleball, padel is all going to grow.”
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LALO athlete ambassadors Amanda Anisimova and Zizou Bergs at an invite-only dinner earlier this week.
Courtesy Olly
Naomi Osaka at “Volly with OLLY,” an afternoon of tennis and wellness.
The lead-up to the U.S. Open is an increasingly crowded social calendar for players. While appearances at many of these events are part of players’ sponsor obligations, or negotiated with whichever hotel they are making their home base during the tournament, tennis players are “pretty good compartmentalizers,” says Matthew Futterman, who covers tennis for The Athletic and is the author of The Cruelest Game: Chasing Greatness in Professional Tennis. “This is the Grand Slam you come to pick up checks—because that’s what New York is, and what New York is looking for.”
Some players do opt out of the New York event madness, but many more lean in. “You don’t see Iga Świątek doing a lot of those experiences because it really drains her,” Futterman says. “Some people are energized by it and really get into this kind of New York groove; [Novak] Djokovic does stuff for several days, and then he goes out to an estate in New Jersey where he lives until he loses and finds his quiet.”
The easiest events for players to commit to all seem to be riffing on a racket sport. Ping pong events are not new to the pre-U.S. Open week—Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Serena Williams, and more participated in them over a decade ago—but there has been a noticeable rise in them in the past few years.
The reason why is relatively straightforward: First (and perhaps most important), table tennis tables fit in hotel event spaces. The ping pong (or pickleball) parties also give hotels a way to associate themselves with the U.S. Open while offering guests access to top players and generating viral social media content. Second, it also allows players to celebrate tennis without playing tennis, something they’re historically reluctant to do out of competition. As world no. 13 Alexander Bublik tells T&C, a ping pong event is a more “relaxed setting” to connect with people, and a fun “evening away from the competition before the tournament starts.”
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Nadal attends the Ping Pong Party celebration at the New York Palace Hotel on August 27, 2015.
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Williams attends the Delta Open Table Tennis Tournament at Madison Square Park on August 21, 2013.
At the aforementioned Palace Invitational, the tennis stars will trade their rackets for pickleball paddles. “It’s really intended to be a lighthearted competition,” says David Shenman, the hotel’s Director of Sales and Marketing. “The competitive instinct never goes away, so everyone wants to win, but the format creates a relaxed atmosphere.” He adds, “I’m incredibly proud that we’ve created a genuine moment of connection that you just can’t get inside of a stadium including up close access to top players in tennis.”
The ping pong and pickleball events aim to allow an intimate group of fans watch players engage in some friendly competition. “All athletes are competitive,” says Club Quarters Hotels’ Chief Operating Officer, Joseph Turano, who organizes tonight’s “Game Set Spin” at Branch, the private members club at the Park Terrace Hotel, “but there [is] also almost a sense of anxiety as it’s not their natural sport, even though it’s a similar sport.” Tennis players, Turano suggests, are more competitive than other athletes, and playing ping pong gets them out of their normal element and helps them have a good time.
Courtesy of The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park
Casper Ruud and Félix Auger-Aliassime at the “Central Park Open,” a party at the Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park.
There is a worry, though, the pre-U.S. Open week is becoming oversaturated with events, thus lessening their impact. Jessica Schiffer, who authors Hard Court, a newsletter exploring the business, culture, and style of tennis, says the week before the Open has become “bonkers.”
“It’s just so much to do when you’re prepping for a Grand Slam,” she tells T&C. “Every year it gets more and more bloated in terms of the obligations and events these athletes have to go to, and it’s hard for me to understand how an athlete juggles all of those obligations with the intense training that goes into prepping for a Grand Slam. I personally feel like it’s gotten out of hand. Everyone and their mother wants to be involved in some way, and I would say 95 percent of the events are just kind of lame and not worth showing up for. Of course, the athletes are getting paid and a lot of these are for their sponsors, so they have to do it.”
She adds, “Less is more. At a certain point, events lose their appeal if there are so many of them happening. They just don’t feel as special.”
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Jannik Sinner, who withdrew from this year’s U.S. Open, playing in the 2025 Petit Slam.
Still, the events all remain packed with fans—and players keep coming back year after year. “It’s exciting to see that crossover between tennis and other racket sports having such a moment,” says Raul Leal, CEO, Starwood Hotels (the global hospitality company behind Baccarat Hotels), “and even more rewarding that Petit Slam has become an annual tradition players and guests genuinely look forward to year after year.” For the past four years, the the Baccarat Hotel’s Petit Salon has played host to the fan-favorite Petit Slam.
Tennis skills don’t mean table tennis success, however. “They’re completely different sports,” Naomi Osaka told T&C of the difference between ping pong and tennis at last year’s Petit Slam. “But I would hope that our hand eye coordination is a little better.” In addition to table tennis, Osaka has tried pickleball, she said, and wanted to play badminton. “I feel like I maybe have a slight advantage” as a tennis player, she said, “but every sport has their own unique difficulty.”
Kelly TaubAryna Sabalenka is booked and busy this week. She played Wii Tennis Monday night at the St. Regis; ping pong at a Material Good event last night; did a live podcast taping of “The Run-Through” at the Gucci store, and tomorrow, she will take over FINI Pizza in Brooklyn Heights.
Ultimately, these events offer a low-stakes, and more natural way, to show off their competitive sides, fulfill sponsor obligations, and connect with fans. Having a racket sport at the heart of the event is perhaps preferable to a cocktail hour. “I’ve been at events where the invitation will be like, ‘Come mingle with Aryna Sabalenka,’ and you’re not really mingling,” says Schiffer. “They’re cordoned off by their handlers and there are people moving around them, basically gawking at them like zoo animals, which isn’t really that fun.”
The best of these events, essentially, give players something to do, and for those who are more reluctant to speak on a panel, a structured game is preferable. Plus, in a week built around preparing for one of the most important tournaments of their season, a few games of ping pong may be the closest thing they get to a break.
Emily Burack (she/her) is the Deputy Digital Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, celebrities, the royals, and a wide range of other topics. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Instagram, Twitter, and other social media platforms.