The Tennis vs. Pickleball Turf War | The Daily Show

The great turf wars between tennis and pickleball players comes to a head as Michael Kosta recruits former pro and sports commentator Patrick McEnroe to narrate an epic pickleball showdown: Kosta and Ronny Chieng vs. The Pickleball Twins. #DailyShow #Pickleball #Tennis
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[@maxkozlov3901]

In all fairness, being ranked 864 in the world is extremely impressive

[@carschmn]

Yeah that is really cool!

[@jaymelton2663]

@@carschmn Right? I guarantee you he'd probably be the best player any casual player has ever seen in person. I played when I was younger, and entered a couple tournaments with some pro-ranked players in them. I might as well have been a toddler playing against them - everything was faster, better placed, etc.

[@hannahlistentofacejam3144]

It just means at least 863 people are better than you, I had no idea 800 people played tennis

[@ethanl868]

@@hannahlistentofacejam3144 You have to get out more often then lol - it is one of the most popular sports to be watched or played recreationally. Lots of interest in both young and older crowds.

[@montananerd8244]

​@@hannahlistentofacejam3144lol millions of people play tennis. It's a huge sport but not super trendy right now. $11k in four years is a level most of us will never even get close to. He was the lowest level of great, which is still great.

[@savagepro9060]

It was so convincing, I had to look it up on Wikipedia --->> Kosta played tennis on the ITF and ATP tour for two years before being hired as the Assistant Men's Tennis Coach for the University of Michigan. While he was the assistant coach, he began to explore his interest in stand-up comedy and performed at local comedy clubs on the side. In 2005, Kosta began a full-time job as a stand-up comic based in Los Angeles. . . . He currently hosts his own podcast, Tennis Anyone, dedicated to all things tennis . . . Game-Set-Match!

[@Obscusion2]

And according the the ATP's database Kosta was even ranked #439 in Doubles!

[@JordanODash]

LOL

[@miguelmatallanes5953]

Yes!! Fricken awesome

[@lupo3694]

Yeah me too. I am not surpried to be honest, Micheal looks like a tennis player. I don't know why, he just does.

[@SEAZNDragon]

I saw Kosta's tennis photos and thought that's a convincing photoshop, and then I remember his wiki entry. I wonder if the writers remembered or Kosta had an actual axe to grind,

[@robkoper841]

You did the impossible: you got Ronnie to actually like something. And that something was Pickleball. Way to go, Kosta...

[@offtarget1758]

😂

[@treeeva]

😮 Right! That's gotta be up there with some sort of miracle... Getting Ronnie to change his mind about something!!!

[@MissAngela007]

Get him to speech therapy

[@wholeshebang1]

@@MissAngela007- Who and why?

[@Zyberwoof]

That was my takeaway too.

[@meganh4011]

"This changes everything! I've never had Sriracha mayo on a sandwich."😂

[@ThatLeBelKid]

Dude has insane comedic chops for a sports commentator and former athlete

[@skywriter14]

Put Sriracha and Ranch Dressing together and mix it. I do it all the time. Prolly healthier than mayo.

[@OsirisMalkovich]

Pickleball: when you're too slow for tennis and too uncoordinated for ping pong.

[@tonyas7169]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@johnshopkins554]

🤣🤣🤣🫡 truth indeed.

[@heristyono4755]

Too weak for badminton

[@justinushartoyo2370]

So it's an inclusive sport for people who you called slow and uncoordinated, nothing wrong with that

[@kamladoodnauth2378]

😂😂😂😂

[@AndorranStairway]

Crazy that Kosta was once a tennis pro. Rank 864 already puts him in the top 0.1% of players in the world. The average tennis player probably couldn’t return a serve from any ATP ranked player.

[@MrVovansim]

Not only that, but he also wrote a book. 101 tips for winning more tennis matches.

[@123mbo]

“Why is there two of the same people?” 😂

[@EthelredHardrede-nz8yv]

I don't see James Cameron around so its not him shooting another Terminator II.

[@toddkreter4006]

Gotta love McEnroe, a comedic talent on top of his announcing skills.

[@jessamineprice5803]

He’s a champ! Even if he’ll always be remembered as the Calm Brother

[@laalaa99stl]

I think the solution is to have the tennis and pickleball games run concurrently -- on the same court. Whoever survives it survives it.

[@copiumkiller]

Add anime visual effects like "Prince of tennis" and you got a decent entertainment

[@wayneerichsen]

Yeah, it ain't hard to sort this out, is it? Oldies playing pickle ball will just be converted tennis players, I imagine.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

You've clearly not played against Susan when she has her knee braces on. What a monster.

[@mcv2178]

The Pickle Games!

[@misterdoctor9693]

So... the Mad Max solution?

[@humblebeat]

I’m with Ronnie, “where are the pickles?”.

[@MarkAhlquist]

"No one saw this coming, no one's even watching"

[@de2296]

😂😂😂

[@sherryfrancis9982]

Pickleball vs tennis is a real thing! 🤣 The Police had to get involved at our local tennis court 🤣🤣

[@reddy272]

I don't think I've ever seen Ronny smile genuinely before on this show 😃

[@adamkauffman9311]

"After watching this game, we all feel like losers." Me: Haha, wait! He's talking about all of us!

[@benschneider4830]

I lol’d when Ronny came out from behind that weird corner flap.

[@ashby.abroad]

I love the pickleball and tennis beef 😂

[@hypocritetrollbot7729]

Stop! You’re making me hungry!

[@de2296]

Holleringggg😂😂😂😂😂. Where's the pickles , u said there will be food lolol

[@cbpd89]

I learned about pickleball about ten years ago because it was all the rage in the 55+ communities in Southern Arizona. It's been slowly sleeping it's way into younger and younger people, this year our city is offering pickleball sports camp for kids 😂

[@LindaC616]

Sadly, where I live the tennis snobs did not want it on their courts. So someone created a club after taking over the movie theater in the middle class town next door. Now we have no movie theater here. Have to go off the island if you want to see a movie

[@MichelBertrand]

@@LindaC616 Tennis snobs were right. Pickleball is ridiculously loud and annoying.

[@LindaC616]

@@MichelBertrand it's just another way for snobby Newporters to tell anyone that doesn't employ a tennis pro how they can use public spaces.

[@repealthepatriotact]

Wait.....55+ people are using pickleball to sleep their way into a sports camp for kids??

[@carlosnascimento9269]

The comments were hilarious. Great skit.

[@kc10man]

Michael needs to do Hot Ones

[@laalaa99stl]

Never heard more vicious words? It makes sense for a sibling to not watch any of his own brothers' games. 😁

[@de2296]

😂😂😂

[@delila1830]

Or maybe that was the joke

[@Kenzie_Hill]

McEnroe delivered truth and comedy at the same time! ❤

[@montananerd8244]

If Albert is really from a pickleball organization, and not a comedian already, he did an awesome job! He did great if he's a comic,but if he's a "layperson," really well done playing along & matching Kosta's weird eye contact lol

[@Leah_Newton]

"Old guy ball sacks" 😂 I laughed so hard I rolled over! 🤣

[@shayway2k]

This segment was hilarious! The tennis pro was hilarious

[@mortenhelt]

Ronnie is smiling!!!

[@spinozatheobvious626]

What's weird is that over here in the Netherlands tennis now has to compete with padel, which is also kinda like pickleball and is also super loud, and yet it's somehow still different.

[@jasonbean2764]

Tennis is a sport. "Pickleball" is an activity.

[@LindaC616]

The snobs here complained that it was "too noisy", but tennis wasn't. Shoved it into the town next door, first at the Y and now also where we used to have the only multiplex. So now we have a "pickleball club" with a membership fee a d no movie theater 😔

[@Deescizzle]

100%%%%% You hit it spot on! Thanks for this comparison!

[@richiegarcia4]

What are the characteristics of a sport that tennis has, but not pickleball?

[@jasonbean2764]

@@richiegarcia4 history and professional credibility.

[@richiegarcia4]

@@jasonbean2764 I get it. You're talking sport with a capital "S", as opposed to "activities" like iron man competitions, ultimate frisbee, kickboxing, etc.(not major sports with a long history and an expansive talent pool).

[@joshfrench5858]

This sounds like skiers vs snowboarders. lol

[@josephhoh]

ukulelelists vs guitarists; hip hop vs ballroom; etc :)

[@magnetiktrax]

More like skiers vs people walking in snow shoes.

[@phatmonkey11]

@@magnetiktrax I telemark ski and snowboard. The original commenter is right. Snowboarding is super easy.

[@Monopo140]

how? Skiers vs snowboarders are both very athletic sports????

[@joshfrench5858]

@@Monopo140 it’s one group of people using a space for a sport complaining about another group of people using the same space for a slightly different sport. Obviously you were not skiing or snowboarding in the 90’s early 2000’s.

[@myfantube]

Kosta is ranked the number 1 funniest tennis player!!!

[@likethetelescope]

Albert is the man, he volunteers to set up courts every day at 8 am in a park on the Upper East Side

[@Pete_Finch]

Just two professional tennis players hangin' out talking pickleball

[@nogmo100]

Like when snowboarders came on the slopes

[@pruett89]

This is a great segment!

[@mikeadair6276]

"After watching this, [I] feel like a loser" 😢😂

[@bajanconcepts]

I have a co-worker that is forever trying to get me to play pickleball. I play Tennis, basketball, and ride motorcycles on circuit tracks every month, from what I see, pickleball is like a larger table tennis and I would not want to play that either. To each their own, if it get you out of the house and getting some cardio, then kudos to you.

[@aventari]

I play tennis, basketball, soccer, mtn bike, and track motorcycles and race cars (24 hours of lemons and 944-Spec) on road courses too. Pickleball is really fun and the social aspect is the best part that's missing from tennis. You should try it.

[@bajanconcepts]

@@aventari Julie, is that you?

[@jujitsujew23]

I’m from where pickleball was invented, Bainbridge island Washington, and this video is surreal

[@terdferguson69]

Do you know the date and time that it was invented? Just putting the finishing touches on my time machine and that will be my second stop, after the obvious one. Thanks!

[@jujitsujew23]

@@terdferguson69 Not sure on the exact day but it was in the summer of 1965 about 5 minutes from where I grew up on the south end of the island

[@Positive_Tea]

Of course it's from Bainbridge

[@jujitsujew23]

@@Positive_Tea and where are you from?

[@notaspectator]

Appreciating both sports and people that are passionate, respect to both. me: 15 years tennis, slowly teaching now

[@DannyBPlays]

I was one of those who laughed at PB for looking silly but once you start playing and getting better, it's a really great sport. It's easy to learn, but hard to master. It's not just "easy tennis" because the kitchen changes the entire style of play from tennis. Less emphasis on hard swings, more on precise hits BTW as a PB player, I couldn't help but notice how awful that net was curved. It's supposed to be 36 inches tall on the sides and slightly sag to 34 inches in the middle, this was curved like a W

[@AnyPerson-my8pe]

I LOVED this clip! My favorite one of 2024 so far. :D

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

It's honestly so fun. And people always joke that it's for old dead people, but at high levels it's a young person game, and a completely different sport. I burn 500 cals/hr playing in my group of 20-30 year olds. It can be a really intense game of insane reactions and athleticism. For real though.

[@freedomlife3623]

I just can’t stand the sound of pickle ball hitting the racket.

[@magnetiktrax]

I burn 950 cals/hr playing squash. Higher level players burn up to 1200 kcal/h.

[@xovokrill]

How much did Chris Evert pay you to say this

[@fonsecar]

@@freedomlife3623 *paddle

[@Bluesayshello1]

My apartment complex replaced its tennis court with pickleball courts

[@martijnprinzen7124]

Pickle ball seems like such a perfectly American thing: it's loud, it's new and wildly unstylish.

[@jillcohen2087]

It's not new. Invented in 1965. My neighbor built a pb court in his backyard in 1978.

[@jamesuthmann940]

@@jillcohen2087 Yeah, I always laugh at people talking about this "new" sport -- that I learned to play nearly fifty years ago, on a court that looked old and worn out even then.

[@phatmonkey11]

So nice that you can use the internet that we invented on KZbin that we invented to make a poor attempt at bashing us. And have you *seen* what European tourists wear on vacation in the US?

[@ohotnitza]

Pickleball is hella fun

[@AnimeIntroStyles4]

I’m feeling the passion from Michael Kosta for this piece.

[@savagepro9060]

Well let's see how well pickleball plays on Grass and Clay!

[@Deescizzle]

Got that right! From now on, let's only build clay courts. Keep the pickles away

[@savagepro9060]

@@Deescizzle hahaha, 'sticky situation'

[@TheGiggleMasterP]

Costa could've been the champ but he knew he had a calling at The Daily Show.

[@NewMessage]

The first forty or so times I heard about this, I thought it was a Urban Dictionary term for mature swingers.

[@tonyas7169]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣👍

[@de2296]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@fespa]

This is the "The Princess Bride" of sketches. So many great one-liners.

[@mk_annan22]

I think Pickleball can be utilized as a gateway for people to get into Tennis. 🎾

[@uberfu]

But somehow not raquetball - or handball or ping pong or badminton or paddle ball as gateways to tennis ?? For some reason they had to invent yet another tennis ripoff to use as a gateway to tennis for no reason ... Hmmm.

[@mk_annan22]

@@uberfu I didn't even know Pickleball existed as a Tennis 🎾 variant until recently, but it seems that it is here to stay.

[@user-unknown173]

Especially for kids. Real tennis is an extremely difficult sport. It takes a lot of fitness and skills to have a proper match.

[@nerffej]

@@uberfuracquetball/squash is way different from tennis. Pickleball is closer to table tennis in certain aspects. It’s like a mishmash of that and tennis.

[@thomasreese2816]

4 pickleball courts can be put on 1 tennis court. That means up to 16 people can play instead of 2-4 in the same space. Parks should just have the option to use half or all the tennis courts in either configuration, with rolling nets off to the side

[@majhoop2317]

You also can easily get 200 people on a tennis court to play bingo but then you don't have a tennis court. Pickleball players crowd the tennis players off. Also, if you get a court and people play pickleball next to you it's extreme loudness is disturbing. Also, pickleball players are generally quite loud. They are so impressed with smashing a ball that has no bounce with a piece of plastic that has no tension.

[@Beckstar05]

The pickle ball players near us have not only taken over the tennis courts, they bring their own nets and take over the basketball courts too. Every single day. Sometimes, when asked to move they take up half the court and allow the kids to play with the other half. Other times they refuse to move. Pickle ball is really fun to play, but behavior like this is really becoming a problem.

[@guisepperae3736]

Am I the only person that came here thinking, " what the f*ck is pickleball " and " how long has said ' pickleball ' been around " ?!?

[@electronsympathy]

It was invented in 1965 in Washington State as an alternative to badminton. Its status as a middle ground between table tennis and full court tennis made it really accessible to children and the elderly, and it was a common gym class staple when I was growing up because you could get a whole class playing while only a few teams could play tennis at a time because of space and floor marking considerations. It's also just easier to get started playing as the paddle and wiffle ball are much easier to control than the more elastic racket and tennis ball. As Ronnie Cheng can attest: it's just immediately fun even if its hard to take seriously as "sport".

[@splendidcolors]

I heard about it from the US version of the sitcom Ghosts, of all places. I thought it was something the writers made up as a weird "local New England Rich Person thing" because that described the neighbors who brought it up. Now Target has a huge display of Pickleball clothing near the entrance...

[@donh7909]

Very well done skit..! 😂 😆

[@toodlesoops7761]

I dare anyone to live next door to a pickleball court and keep their sanity - the sound is literally mind blowingly horrific

[@damondavros3712]

💯. Will drive you mad I hear.

[@jahl1163]

People, like the commenters below, actually hate on pickleball but never played it. "It's for old people", "It's for people who can't play tennis". I don't get it. I started playing 6 months ago and I love it. I grew up in Brooklyn playing paddleball and handball every day. Pickleball feels like a sport to me.

[@Notturnoir]

Whats the diff btwn paddleball and pickleball?

[@jahl1163]

@@Notturnoir Paddleball is played against a wall with a wooden paddle and a small blue rubber ball. Lightning fast play when you're at a higher level. Nobody plays it anymore, for some reason.

[@lovejackson2830]

Patrick McEnroe and Kosta are now best friends!❤

[@IOSARBX]

The Daily Show, I can't get enough of your content, so I subscribed!

[@na3rial]

The Pickleball Doctor has major Ouroboros (Loki)/Waymond wholesome vibes

[@timoneill6931]

Don’t worry tennis people, remember racquetball and handball? Exactly!

[@laalaa99stl]

This was more like Cucumberball.

[@tonyas7169]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@de2296]

😂😂

[@eme.261]

And here I was thinking this looked like Lemonball.

[@Ladybug211211]

Love this bit!

[@savagepro9060]

They even have a term for on-court fighting -->> PickleBrawl

[@magnetiktrax]

Picklebawl 😢

[@Roberto-iq1mv]

Of course the pickleball guy arrives on a motorized bike.

[@onejonfromearth]

loved this gig

[@berkleypelletier5483]

This is excellent

[@bomega2818]

That drop shot tho! Ok 🎾

[@myphone7568]

This is my new favorite thing!

[@EvanMoon]

These two guys play off each other like pros

[@robinbarone355]

I totally feel you Michael Costa!

[@franz.k]

It is already hard to find available public tennis courts. If pickleball is so popular they should get their own dedicated courts.

[@cbpd89]

They've been popping up all over for a few years now, but a lot of places would rather have the one space be multi-purpose.

[@majhoop2317]

Exactly. Unlike tennis you can set up pickleball in a driveway and in gyms. It's always been a challenge to find free tennis courts now it's 3 times as hard and 10 times as loud. Like Navratilova said "if it's really that popular get your own courts". Don't ruin the tennis courts. For me, it's really tennis dumbed down to pre schooler levels or like basketball with 5 foot goals.

[@Mr.Martini549]

They can't build new courts fast enough, Sparky.

[@abednegosteelo7813]

Hope you came with your feeding tubes😅😂😂😂😂😂

[@esmeralda478]

I really enjoyed this one! 🤣

[@TheSimpleIvan]

The Custom headband and number on the back were made at Custom Village in NYC

[@sbhanse]

"doublemint twins" haha

[@IMArt-kx2ci]

You should try paddle tennis (or Padel tennis), now entering the States hand in hand with the NY Yankees, but played worldwide for the last two decades, a much faster and demanding sport in between tennis and piketball

[@magnetiktrax]

You mean Padel. Great sport, much better than picklebawl.

[@IMArt-kx2ci]

@@magnetiktrax Exactly. Although originally, at least 34 years ago, it was called paddle tennis because it's played with a paddle. Afterwards it changed to padel because it's mostly played in Spanish speaking countries and that's the way we write how it sounds.

[@jaquinhamdan3943]

The number one player in pickle could not qualify to any professional tournament were your have top 2000 ATP. Retire ATP players could be 1# pickle playeres

[@rustyelder]

Bravo Pat Mac! Funny stuff

[@ecamp6360]

I love the liquor bottles in the background of McEnroe room. Wouldn't it be great if all the talking heads had that. More honest maybe.

[@krystofdayne]

The funny thing is, tennis itself, or as it was called back then "lawn tennis", used to be the pickleball to its older cousin tennis, or as it's now known "real tennis". Real tennis is such a deliciously absurd sport, y'all have to look it up one time. It's still played a bit in the UK and elsewhere.

[@plhapkido]

I am surprised Ronny, a Malaysian native, didn’t show up with his badminton racket

[@Jennifer_ref]

Love this video! ❤

[@lauralake7430]

The sound of pickleball makes me want to die

[@CharmaineRanford]

This is hilarious and awesome 😎

[@therakshasan8547]

Pickle Ball is just a Large version of Ping Pong .

[@bra-balllegend3940]

George Carlin would say both are just "ping-pong played while standing on the table."

[@nicholase2868]

And Ping Pong is also known as table tennis. So would that make Pickle Ball "Ground Table Tennis"?

[@CurtPrice]

Nah. The kitchen rules make pickleball what it is. Similar in some ways to tennis and ping pong, but strategies are waaay different.

[@ramonmoreno8014]

@@CurtPrice strategies 🤣

[@CurtPrice]

​@@ramonmoreno8014 Yeah. Strategies. Game plans that all successful players employ in any sport. 🤷

[@fabionhewitt]

I love this one 😂😂😂😂😂

[@cheezykrafts8134]

I first heard the term pickle ball when I moved to a place where there are tennis courts across the street. I was watching people not play tennis right from my living room window until my bf told me about pickle ball. The best description I got about the difference is pickleball is easier so it levels the playing field for when families are playing with their kids. A year and a half later, I still rarely see a tennis player but I still have my rackets from high school (they were expensive). I can see why Americans want an easier game. Tennis is actually difficult.

[@whazzat8015]

Across the street? We have a noise problem from courts near residences.

[@TheGiggleMasterP]

Pickleball always makes me so hungry. 😅

[@digitalreporter]

The Ballroom Brawl: A Jazzed-up Rhyme In the ballroom brawl of pickleball and tennis lore, Where laughter echoes louder than the score, Michael Kosta, once ranked eight-sixty-four, Leads the charge with humor galore. Patrick McEnroe, with a quip and a jest, Joins the fray, tongue firmly in cheek, no jest. As they navigate the court's wild west, Their banter adds zest to this comedic quest. Enter The Pickleball Twins, with paddle in hand, Challenging Kosta's tennis turf, they take a stand. In a comedy showdown, they make their demand, To settle the score on the jazzed-up land. Turf wars rage, tensions high, but all in jest, As Kosta and his hungry sidekick Ronny Chieng strive to be the best. Against The Pickleball Twins, they put their skills to the test, In a jazzy spectacle, where laughter never rests. With paddle and racket, they dance and they play, Each point a punchline in this rhyming display. But in the end, it's the comedy that holds sway, As they laugh and jest their troubles away.

[@SfromWisconsin]

Ironically, pickleball was being promoted at the Junior Olympics years ago. Several athletes, coaches, and their families took a break from their sports to learn how to play pickleball on one of the two courts that were set up. And we all enjoyed it. 😂

[@hruntingson]

Nice legs Costa! Workin’ those shorts!

[@wamarite]

Never had of Pickle ball before till I came across this video.

[@areyoufriendly]

Tbh, anyone who brings pickles to share at pickleball matches would be pretty awesome.

[@briansounalath]

Kostas deserves his own show. He’s like a Jesse Waters parody. Like Colbert was a Bill O’Reilly one back in the day.

[@EagleCondor3456]

Better than shuffleboard or ping pong!

[@ashkaunadib7638]

Pickleball is huge in my city. Who knew lazy tennis would be this popular

[@daniellebrena5585]

Tennis for life

[@user-hh8fg7gg6m]

Kosta is the John McEnroe of pickleball.

[@theyruinedyoutubeagain]

Haha I can't believe Michael is actually an ex challenger player, I thought it was just a random joke

[@katjabluetopaz]

Go Kosta!!!

[@TragoudistrosMPH]

#864 and 11k in the 90's is pretty impressive! 😁