PARIS (AP) — Let other folks fret about whether tennis might lose athletes and audiences to pickleball or padel. The people in charge of tennis in France are embracing those other racket-adjacent sports, figuring, essentially: The more, the merrier. The French Tennis Federation (FFT) officially brought pickleball under its umbrella and is seeking government approval to hold a sanctioned national championship. French Open tournament director Amélie Mauresmo, a former No. 1-ranked tennis player, and FFT president Gilles Moretton took part in a pickleball demonstration on one of the Grand Slam tournament’s courts on Thursday as part of an effort to promote the sport.
