{"id":58429,"date":"2026-08-27T11:55:28","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T11:55:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/58429\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T11:55:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T11:55:28","slug":"why-are-top-tennis-stars-playing-ping-pong-before-the-u-s-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/58429\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Are Top Tennis Stars Playing Ping Pong Before the U.S. Open?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Estimated5 min read<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe I should try pickleball,\u201d mused<\/a> former U.S. Open champ Daniil Medvedev as he lost in a tournament this week in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.<\/p>\n

Medvedev, 30, has been struggling this season<\/a> and likely wasn\u2019t serious, but the jump from tennis to pickleball is not necessarily an easy one\u2014and 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.<\/p>\n

While out in Queens at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the official Fan Week<\/a> offers free qualifying matches, exhibitions<\/a>, practice sessions, and, since last year, the star-studded mixed doubles tournament<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so much interest in rackets sports in general,\u201d says Taylor Fritz, who is playing in the \u201cPalace Invitational\u201d at Lotte New York Palace alongside Serena Williams, Matteo Berrettini, and Caroline Wozniacki, tells T&C. \u201cFor me, [the interest] is a really good thing, it means tennis, pickleball, padel is all going to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TwoSansho Scott\/BFA.com<\/p>\n

LALO athlete ambassadors Amanda Anisimova and Zizou Bergs at an invite-only dinner earlier this week.<\/p>\n

\"ACourtesy Olly<\/p>\n

Naomi Osaka at \u201cVolly with OLLY,\u201d an afternoon of tennis and wellness.<\/p>\n

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\u2019 sponsor obligations, or negotiated with whichever hotel they are making their home base during the tournament, tennis players are \u201cpretty good compartmentalizers,\u201d says Matthew Futterman<\/a>, who covers tennis for The Athletic and is the author<\/a> of The Cruelest Game: Chasing Greatness in Professional Tennis<\/a>. \u201cThis is the Grand Slam you come to pick up checks\u2014because that\u2019s what New York is, and what New York is looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some players do opt out of the New York event madness, but many more lean in. \u201cYou don\u2019t see Iga \u015awi\u0105tek<\/a> doing a lot of those experiences because it really drains her,\u201d Futterman says. \u201cSome people are energized by it and really get into this kind of New York groove; [Novak] Djokovic<\/a> 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2014Rafael Nadal<\/a>, Andy Murray<\/a>, Serena Williams<\/a>, and more participated in them over a decade ago\u2014but there has been a noticeable rise in them in the past few years.<\/p>\n

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\u2019re historically reluctant to do out of competition. As world no. 13 Alexander Bublik tells T&C, a ping pong event is a more \u201crelaxed setting\u201d to connect with people, and a fun \u201cevening away from the competition before the tournament starts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PingSteve Zak Photography\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Nadal attends the Ping Pong Party celebration at the New York Palace Hotel on August 27, 2015.<\/p>\n

\"DeltaRommel Demano\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Williams attends the Delta Open Table Tennis Tournament at Madison Square Park on August 21, 2013.<\/p>\n

At the aforementioned Palace Invitational, the tennis stars will trade their rackets for pickleball paddles. \u201cIt\u2019s really intended to be a lighthearted competition,\u201d says David Shenman, the hotel\u2019s Director of Sales and Marketing. \u201cThe competitive instinct never goes away, so everyone wants to win, but the format creates a relaxed atmosphere.\u201d He adds, \u201cI\u2019m incredibly proud that we\u2019ve created a genuine moment of connection that you just can\u2019t get inside of a stadium including up close access to top players in tennis.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ping pong and pickleball events aim to allow an intimate group of fans watch players engage in some friendly competition. \u201cAll athletes are competitive,\u201d says Club Quarters Hotels\u2019 Chief Operating Officer, Joseph Turano, who organizes tonight\u2019s \u201cGame Set Spin\u201d at Branch<\/a>, the private members club at the Park Terrace Hotel, \u201cbut there [is] also almost a sense of anxiety as it\u2019s not their natural sport, even though it\u2019s a similar sport.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

\"ACourtesy of The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park<\/p>\n

Casper Ruud and F\u00e9lix Auger-Aliassime at the \u201cCentral Park Open,\u201d a party at the Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park.<\/p>\n

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>, a newsletter exploring the business, culture, and style of tennis, says the week before the Open has become \u201cbonkers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just so much to do when you\u2019re prepping for a Grand Slam,\u201d she tells T&C. \u201cEvery year it gets more and more bloated in terms of the obligations and events these athletes have to go to, and it\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

She adds, \u201cLess is more. At a certain point, events lose their appeal if there are so many of them happening. They just don\u2019t feel as special.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BaccaratMichael Simon\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Jannik Sinner, who withdrew from this year\u2019s U.S. Open, playing in the 2025 Petit Slam.<\/p>\n

Still, the events all remain packed with fans\u2014and players keep coming back year after year. \u201cIt\u2019s exciting to see that crossover between tennis and other racket sports having such a moment,\u201d says Raul Leal, CEO, Starwood Hotels (the global hospitality company behind Baccarat Hotels), \u201cand even more rewarding that Petit Slam has become an annual tradition players and guests genuinely look forward to year after year.\u201d For the past four years, the the Baccarat Hotel\u2019s<\/a> Petit Salon has played host to the fan-favorite Petit Slam.<\/p>\n

Tennis skills don\u2019t mean table tennis success, however. \u201cThey\u2019re completely different sports,\u201d Naomi Osaka<\/a> told T&C of the difference between ping pong and tennis at last year\u2019s Petit Slam. \u201cBut I would hope that our hand eye coordination is a little better.\u201d In addition to table tennis, Osaka has tried pickleball, she said, and wanted to play badminton. \u201cI feel like I maybe have a slight advantage\u201d as a tennis player, she said, \u201cbut every sport has their own unique difficulty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AKelly TaubAryna Sabalenka is booked and busy this week. She played Wii Tennis Monday night at the St. Regis; ping pong at a Material Good<\/a> event last night; did a live podcast taping of \u201cThe Run-Through\u201d at the Gucci store, and tomorrow, she will take over FINI Pizza in Brooklyn Heights.<\/p>\n

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. \u201cI\u2019ve been at events where the invitation will be like, \u2018Come mingle with Aryna Sabalenka,\u2019 and you\u2019re not really mingling,\u201d says Schiffer. \u201cThey\u2019re cordoned off by their handlers and there are people moving around them, basically gawking at them like zoo animals, which isn\u2019t really that fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"Headshot<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"5 min read \u201cMaybe I should try pickleball,\u201d mused former U.S. Open champ Daniil Medvedev as he lost…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58430,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[922,21516,2445,21996,298,302,303,918,10359,21995,10689,921,28],"class_list":["post-58429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-collection-tennis-news","tag-collection-u-s-open-2026","tag-content-type-feature","tag-contentid-db0163d7-5e96-4a4c-95c9-e9668942f5e7","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-hasproduct-true","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-us","tag-read_time-6","tag-shorttitle-why-are-top-tennis-stars-playing-ping-pong","tag-sponsored-false","tag-subsection-sporting","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}