Agassi, Graf vs. Roddick, Bouchard Set for $1M Match in Vegas
German former tennis player Steffi Graf eyes the ball during an exhibition tennis match at the 5th edition of the Sports Festival organized at the BT Arena in Cluj Napoca, Romania on June 15, 2024.
Tennis legends Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf will look to defend their Pickleball Slam title against former U.S. Open champion Andy Roddick and 2014 Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard with a $1 million purse on the line this February in Las Vegas.
The Pickleball Slam 3 will take place at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on Sunday, Feb. 16. The event will air on ESPN.
This is the first edition of the tournament to take place in Las Vegas after two prior tournaments were held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
The Florida tournament allowed 4,500 attendees, while the Vegas edition of the tournament is expected to accommodate around 6,750 attendees and could add more, an event spokesperson told Sports Business Journal’s Rob Schaefer.
Agassi and Graf, who have been married since 2001 and hold a combined 42 Grand Slam titles, defeated Maria Sharapova and John McEnroe in the 2023 edition of the $1 million match.
Agassi, who will return to his hometown for the event, is seeking a third straight title after winning the inaugural event alongside Roddick and claiming the 2023 victory with Graf.
Roddick returns, and Bouchard will make her Pickleball Slam debut, in an attempt to unseat Agassi this winter.
Bouchard enters the contest as the sole professional pickleball player in the exhibition double match. She made her PPA Tour debut in January while continuing to play as a WTA competitor.
The 2023 Pickleball Slam set a record as ESPN’s most viewed pickleball telecast by drawing in a peak 800,000 viewers, while the second edition of the event eclipsed that total with a peak of 990,000 viewers, per Jon Lafayette of Broadcasting+Cable.
