The Report
No. 55 Stuns No. 3 as Chicago Breaks Open
Good morning, pickleballers.
Chicago did not wait for its biggest names to arrive before producing its first major shock. No. 55 Emilien Burnel has knocked out third seed Hunter Johnson, and he was far from the only favourite to find trouble.
Away from the PPA Tour, Tennis Australia is beginning to build pickleball into existing racquet-sport infrastructure. We also head to Japan and Brazil for two very different stories about what inclusion can look like when the court is opened to more people.
No. 55 Burnel stuns Hunter Johnson
Emilien Burnel has delivered the first major upset of the Veolia Chicago Cup, beating No. 3 seed Hunter Johnson 13-11, 5-11, 11-9 before several of the tournament favourites had even entered the singles draw.
Johnson was not alone. No. 7 Zane Ford lost after winning his opening game 11-2, Pablo Tellez fell to No. 44 Mohaned Alhouni and Augustus Ge swept Zane Navratil 11-2, 11-5. Tyson McGuffin came close to joining them before escaping Rafa Hewett in three.
Now the level rises again. Federico Staksrud, Ben Johns and the leading seeds enter a Round of 32 in which several of their opponents have already proved the bracket can be broken.
Read the Chicago reportTennis Australia is rebuilding the tennis club for the pickleball era
Tennis Australia's relationship with the National Pickleball League is moving beyond tournaments and partnership announcements. The organisations are now working on turning traditional tennis centres into multi-racquet hubs.
NPL's LADER technology has been adopted for the Australian Open Pickleball Slam, while the PARK venue model and Pickleball Community Cup add commercial and grassroots layers to the emerging structure.
The important shift is structural. Instead of asking how much tennis infrastructure pickleball should be allowed to borrow, Australia is beginning to explore what shared racquet-sport infrastructure should look like in the first place.
Inside Australia's racquet-hub strategyFrom wheelchair tennis to an equal pickleball court
Shiori Funamizu reached world No. 13 in wheelchair tennis and competed at Grand Slam level. Now the Japanese athlete is helping build para pickleball in her country while pursuing a slightly different vision of inclusion.
Funamizu primarily competes alongside able-bodied players. For her, pickleball's attraction lies partly in the possibility that the wheelchair does not have to define the competition on the other side of the net.
Fabrizio Lavezzari tells the story of her journey from elite wheelchair tennis to becoming one of the visible figures trying to establish para pickleball in Japan.
Read Shiori's storyWhat happens when the person comes before the sport?
In Rondonópolis, Brazil, professionals are adapting pickleball for children and young people in psychomotor and inclusive programmes, changing everything from court space and ball speed to rules, equipment and the length of activities.
The objective is not simply to produce better pickleball players. Depending on the individual, progress might mean coordinating paddle and ball, waiting for a turn, communicating a choice, tolerating a mistake or becoming comfortable sharing a sporting space with others.
Marcelo Abelheira reports from Mato Grosso on a project built around a deceptively simple principle: before the skill comes the person.
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