- Pershing Square founder Bill Ackman made his professional tennis debut. In a doubles match at the Tennis Hall of Fame Open, he and his partner lost in straight sets in a match that lasted just 67 minutes. Some tennis greats were sharply critical of the match.
Bill Ackman is a giant on Wall Street, but he’s apparently much less dominant on the tennis courts.
The founder and CEO of hedge fund company Pershing Square Capital Management made his professional tennis debut Wednesday, playing in a doubles tournament with four-time Grand Slam champion Jack Sock at his side.
The match lasted just 67 minutes. The duo lost to Bernard Tomic and Omar Jasika in straight sets.
Ackman’s tennis debut had its origins when Ackman, an avid tennis fan and amateur player, reposted a video of Nick Kyrgios scoring a difficult point. Kyrgios reached out to Ackman and offered him a tennis lesson.
Ackman eagerly accepted and sent Kyrgios some videos of himself in practice matches and doubles matches. In March, Kyrgios suggested they play in a match together—and training began.
Earlier this month, Ackman posted that Nick had gotten injured, but Sock had made it into the Tennis Hall of Fame Open in Newport, R.I., as a wild card and invited Ackman to be his partner. That opened the doors to him playing in a World Tennis Association 125 event.
“I am playing the best tennis of my life and Jack is one of the greatest doubles players ever (he won @Wimbledon and the @usopen, and a gold medal in the Olympics), and we start practice this Friday, so you never know,” wrote Ackman before the match. “If we win, I am pretty sure I will be the oldest person in tennis history…to win ATP points.”
Not all of the tennis world was rooting for Ackman. Andy Roddick, the former top tennis player in the world (and current podcaster), called the match “the biggest joke I’ve watched in professional tennis.”