Tennis Can Be Mainstream

A few weeks ago, the Australian Open, one of the biggest tournaments in tennis, ended, with two players being crowned as the current best. However, many people don’t even know that the tournament happened.

Tennis is one of the most popular sports in the world, with the recent Australian Open raking in 1 million fans in attendance and millions more watching from home. It is also one of the most rewarding sports, with the tournament winners accumulating $3.5 million and the prize pool increasing to $96.5 million. This jump in global popularity has also branched out to America. 

Many factors have led to tennis’s sudden growth, and one of the key components is its time and availability. The tennis tour is extremely quick, with multiple tournaments occurring in Dubai, France, Argentina, and the US in just the coming weeks. With so many tournaments available to the public, it is easy for new viewers to indulge and watch, even if the best players aren’t constantly playing. While the time difference may steer some viewers away from the sport, with many of the major tournaments and matches occurring early in the timing, there are still many competitive events available at reasonable times. Not to mention, that the larger tournaments have adjusted their schedules to better suit the needs of American audiences. 

This has been further amplified by the Tennis Channel, a cable network that is available to the majority of households and can be accessed through many cable subscriptions. The Tennis Channel can provide viewers with almost all professional tennis events, being unable to show only a few obscure events. Another subscription service is Tennis TV, which requires a more expensive subscription, but shows every professional tennis match.  

While it may be frustrating for some viewers to have to wait weeks to watch the best tennis players, since they only play at certain, prestigious events, many are still content with what they are given. Almost all tournaments have at least one top 30 player, filling the rest of the player slots with players inside the top 100 of the world. For many new viewers, this can be more than enough since they are simply trying to experience and enjoy the sport, before becoming a hardcore fan. This format also helps the bigger tournaments, the Australian, French, Wimbledon, and US Open; gain more traction since the best players in the world are almost guaranteed to play. 

Tennis has also found an audience in the States because of the chance for American success. One of the most definitive ways for Americans to become invested in international sports is through the success of players from America. Take for example, how Christian Pulisic, who was born in Pennsylvania, nearly single-handedly got millions of people invested in soccer by becoming an international star in Italy. While the dominant eras of Serena and Venus Williams and Pete Sampras and John Mcenroe have ended, there is a crop of young talent ready to take their place. 

On the women’s side, Coco Gauff won the US Open two years ago, becoming a top 3 player in the world, and favorite for every tournament she enters. Alongside her are Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro who have both shown immense potential at the highest level. Meanwhile, on the men’s side, there is loads of young talent with Taylor Fritz in the top five and four other Americans in the top 30. There is also extra motivation for the men since an American man hasn’t won a major tournament since 2003, when Andy Roddick won the US Open in 2003. 

Many have been quick to put off tennis because they see it as a rich person’s sport and an incredibly boring sport to watch. Youth tennis has mainly been aimed at one demographic, the wealthy, with the equipment and lessons necessary to improve costing thousands of dollars. The insane price tag has turned many away from their interest in tennis, opting for cheaper sports such as basketball, where all you need to play is a ball and a hoop. Another critique that has garnered significant attention has been the idea that tennis is a boring sport to watch. The back-and-forth nature has left many new viewers feeling unsatisfied. They would much rather watch sports such as basketball, where there are highlight dunks every other possession, or football, where players are making jaw-dropping catches a regular occurrence. 

However, tennis is arguably one of the most elegant and entertaining sports to watch. The introduction of different play styles has added intriguing matchups between players, and the breathtaking rallies have become iconic in the sports landscape. Each point in tennis matters, and when games go past deuce, everybody is on the edge of their seat, waiting to see how the point plays out. Not to mention how difficult of a sport it is, being one of if not the most technical sports. 

With the titanic popularity of the NFL, NBA, and MLB; tennis can often be overshadowed and looked down upon in America. However, it continues to be one of the most popular sports internationally with millions of fans watching every week. While it may not compete with the likes of football or basketball, it is starting to be recognized more and more by the American audience. Other international sports like Formula One and soccer have walked similar paths, starting with a small and devoted American audience, and then branching out into national phenomenons. Tennis is one of the most beautiful sports to watch and even more fun to play, with many Americans finally giving it a chance.