Dirk Nowitzki hitting an ATP off of a dink from Catherine Parenteau. Scottie Scheffler wagging his finger at Ben Johns after an overhead smash. Anna Leigh Waters tagging John Isner with an Erne putaway.
It’s hard to imagine these moments on a pickleball court, but they’re just a few of the highlights from the Deep Eddy Vodka Celebrity Pickleball Showdown that took place Tuesday night.
The exhibition event was part of the Biofreeze USA Pickleball National Championships happening in Farmers Branch, TX this week and featured Dallas sports icons Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, John Isner, Scottie Scheffler, and Marty Turco sharing the court with some of pickleball’s biggest stars.
Competing pros included World No. 1s Johns and Waters, Jay Devilliers, Catherine Parenteau, Julian Arnold, Lauren Stratman, and Allyce Jones.
The event gave celebrities the opportunity to showcase their skills in the rapidly growing sport on the national stage, with the first hour of the event being broadcast on ESPN.
Scheffler, the top-ranked golfer in the world, joined forces with Waters a few weeks before the event to trade expertise in their respective sports.
The 2022 Masters champion notes that he’s learned the importance of staying engaged even during long doubles points.
“I can get a little lazy where I’ll just let my partner do all the work,” he admitted. “You gotta stay locked in.”
He certainly did more than his fair share during his match with Waters when the duo battled Johns and former top American tennis player Isner. Scheffler got the better of Johns in a hands battle en route to an 11-5 victory.
For the pros, this event was a chance to compete alongside some of their sports idols.
That was the case for PPA pro-Allyce Jones, whose eyes widened when she found out she’d be teaming up with Nowitzki, a basketball Hall-of-Famer, for one of the matches.
“I’ve been a Dirk fan my whole life,” she explained. “I’m a big basketball fan, so I’m just excited to see him on the court.”
One of the shortest players on tour, Jones is 5-foot-2. Her height was even more noticeable as she stood next to Nowitzki, who is seven feet tall.
In addition to giving the crowd a good laugh, the major height difference also delivered winning results for the duo. They took down Parenteau and former Dallas Stars goaltender Marty Turco 7-0 in their lone match together.
The sold-out event, which hosted a few other Dallas sports stars like Mavericks All-Star point guard Luka Doncic in the stands and former Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo in the broadcast booth, set the stage for the pro singles and doubles draws starting Wednesday.
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