From ATP Tour to Pickleball Pioneer: The Dekel Bar Story

Most professional athletes face a difficult transition when their playing days end. Dekel Bar took a different path, building a business empire while still competing at the highest level of his second sport. His journey from the ATP tennis tour to pickleball's elite ranks, and simultaneously to entrepreneurship, offers a case study in recognizing opportunity and executing on it.

Bar grew up in Raanana, Israel, in a family with deep roots in the travel industry. That background would prove relevant later, but his early focus was tennis. He worked his way through the junior ranks and eventually reached a career-high ATP singles ranking of 580, competing on the professional circuit and traveling the world for tournaments.

The transition to pickleball came around the time Bar stepped back from professional tennis. The timing aligned with pickleball's early growth phase, and Bar's tennis skills translated directly. Within months of serious play, he had reached the top tier of competition. He currently holds a number 11 ranking in Men's Doubles and number 6 in Mixed Doubles on the PPA Tour, competing regularly against the sport's best players.

The business side emerged from a partnership with Ben Johns, widely considered the top male player in pickleball. Johns brought name recognition and playing credentials at the absolute peak of the sport. Bar contributed his family's travel industry knowledge and experience evaluating destinations from his years on the tennis tour.

They launched Pickleball Getaways in 2018 with two trips a year. The concept combined professional instruction with destination travel, allowing recreational players to improve their games while experiencing locations they might not visit otherwise. The format resonated immediately.

Growth came steadily. By 2023, the company was running ten trips annually. The 2024 schedule expanded to twelve to fourteen departures. Destinations now span Mexico, Costa Rica, Croatia, Slovenia, Portugal, Spain, and the Caribbean, with a Vietnam tour launching in February 2026 as their first Asian offering.

Bar handles much of the destination scouting, drawing on his dual background. He evaluates court quality and playing conditions with a professional's eye, while assessing hotels, logistics, and local experiences through the lens of someone raised in hospitality. The Mayan Riviera near Cancun emerged as their most popular destination, with multiple trips each year meeting consistent demand.

The company's model puts professional instruction at the center. Bar leads coaching sessions himself on many trips, alongside rotating guest professionals. Participants receive structured drilling, match play organized by skill level, and the opportunity to learn from players competing at the sport's highest level. The instruction combines with cultural excursions and social programming to create a complete travel experience.

Running a travel business while maintaining a professional competition schedule requires careful balance. Bar lives in Austin, Texas, providing a central base for tournament travel across the United States. The business operations happen around training and competition, with a team handling logistics while Bar focuses on the playing and instructional components he delivers personally.

The Vietnam expansion represents the latest phase in the company's growth. Asia's pickleball infrastructure has developed rapidly over the past several years, creating demand for the retreat format in a new region. The New World Hoiana Beach Resort on Vietnam's central coast offered the court quality and accommodation standards that fit the Pickleball Getaways model.

For Bar, the dual identity as competitor and entrepreneur has become defining. He continues to pursue results on the PPA Tour while building a business that has introduced thousands of players to destination pickleball. The combination works because the two roles reinforce each other. Competitive success builds credibility for the instructional business, while the retreats deepen connections with the recreational player community that follows professional pickleball.

The path from ATP journeyman to pickleball professional and travel entrepreneur was not obvious or guaranteed. It required recognizing that a sport in its growth phase offered opportunities beyond just competing, and then executing on that recognition with a partner whose skills complemented his own. For players following pickleball's development, Bar's story illustrates how the sport's expansion creates possibilities that extend well past the court.