As we all know American Tennis has been down recently (on the Men’s Side. Serena Williams and Sofia Kenin are kicking butt right now). The last American to win a Grand Slam was Andy Roddick in 2003… That’s almost 2 Decades ago. There are players in the top 10 (Tsitsipas and Zverev to name 2) that could barely even hold a tennis racquet back then. American Sam Querrey made it to the Semi’s of Wimbledon in 2017 and Quarters in 2019 where he lost to Federer and Nadal respectively. Other than that… nothing. American Tennis has some up and comers that are top 100 but can’t quite seem to break out as elite talents. So what is it about the 2000’s that we can’t quite produce the same level of talent as the 70’s – 90’s when America once dominated tennis.
Tennis has become more Global
Tennis was always a global sport. It is regarded as the second or third most popular sport in the world behind only soccer and debatably cricket. There are more players around the globe that might not have had the same access to all the necessary Vegan Sports Gear, even the small things such as Tennis Grips and Tennis Shock Absorbers. There is so much tennis competition coming from all across the globe. Even now Small Countries like Serbia and Switzerland have been dominating tennis. Fun Fact: There is also roughly 50% of NCAA Tennis Scholarships are going to Non-American Tennis Players.
Tennis is not as popular with the Kids
There are a lot of reasons that kids don’t tend to make tennis a priority growing up. And if they do, they aren’t considered “cool” like the football or basketball players. Why is this? I believe it because it is not a team friendly sport. Most people make friends with the people they play sports with, or are in the same club with. Most tennis “friends” are your competition/enemy, where on the basketball court they are your teammate/ally. Your success is their success. On the tennis court it is the exact opposite. Even if you are a top ranked Jr, there are 50% less scholarship opportunities which a tennis program usually only has 2-5 whole scholarships anyways. And then you are on team with many non-americans that come from a very different cultural background than you. And even then you are still competing for the coveted 1 spot on the roster.
The Travel in Tennis is Brutal
In Juniors, a tennis player is traveling all over the state or country to play the top tournaments. The schedule is brutal and exhausting. Plus once you do make it pro, the travel only intensifies to global. There is a tournament in Australian, then California, then Rotterdam all with in a month period. Plus there is only about 1 month of true off time, which you really can’t afford to take off as you can afford to have a slow start to the season. Most American Tennis players come from upper class families and now that the competition is so competitive and the travel so demanding, the choice to become a professional tennis seems less lucrative to those with means to be great at others things as well.
As you’ve probably read in the Latest Takin Tennis News, American Tennis is in a low place right now. However if we can get our youth excited about tennis and make it more of a team sport like they do in a college atmosphere; that would a great step into making Tennis fun for all kids and turn it into a life long passion. Afterall tennis is the best sport to play when you are older right?