The fourth edition of Pickleball Slam will be a Battle of the Sexes, with women’s pickleball GOAT Anna Leigh Waters set to headline the premier event alongside the sport’s most enthusiastic, and well-known ambassador, tennis legend Andre Agassi.
They will not, however, go one-on-one. At least that is not the plan. Instead, they will pair up with different partners for a shot at the USD 1 million prize. Waters, who at 18 is widely considered the GOAT of pickleball in the women’s division, will team up with tennis player-turned-pickler Eugenie Bouchard, while Agassi will partner former tennis world no. 4 James Blake.
This doubles match will be the finale of the fourth Pickleball Slam following singles matches between Bouchard and Agassi, and between Waters and Blake. The winner in each of these singles matches will earn one point for his or her team. The doubles clash will account for two points, similar to tennis’s Laver Cup.
This special event is set to take place on 15 April 2026 (US time) in Las Vegas, Nevada in the US, and will be broadcast live on ESPN in yet another undeniable indication that pickleball is entering the mainstream. But, six months out, Waters already has some fighting words for Agassi and Blake—sort of.
“Many people still think the top women’s players could not beat the top men’s players in any racket sport. We are ready to prove them wrong,” said Waters, who teamed up with Agassi in April this year at the US Open Pickleball. “Genie and I have a lot of respect for Andre and James’ legacy, but they are about to learn how hard it really is to master the sport we play for a living.”
Agassi surely will have something to say about that, having won the previous three editions of the Pickleball Slam. Last year, he and his wife, 22-time Grand Slam champion Steffi Graf, took on 2003 U.S. Open champion Andy Roddick and Bouchard, and ultimately won it all. He will surely want a repeat of that winning feeling next year.
The fourth Pickleball Slam will be produced by broadcast Hall of Famer David Levy’s Horizon Sports and Experiences, and GSE Worldwide.
