It’s a sport of kings and queens, vice-presidents and peasants, Joe-The-Plumbers and middle management, intellectual farmers (think Tolstoy) and eager, wide-eyed kids. It’s the only sport that stages compelling events in the biggest city in mighty America (NYC), and the largest one in the outback they call Uzbekistan. Its international appeal zooms past borders like a Federer forehand whizzing past Roddick.
But truth be told, bashing tennis, for both know-it-all-columnists and media sages alike — is a bit of a time-honored tradition.
No, there’s no journalism school class entitled “Tennis Abuse 101,” but in many a pressroom and broadcast studio, hurling hefty bricks has become a pastime, a curious rite.
Some critics simply ask, “Is tennis dying?” Others dismiss tennis as an irrelevant country club diversion for wusses, or claim they have no clue who the latest Serbian sensation is.
But guess what ladies and gentlemen; over the past eight years tennis has out performed every major sport!
According to the SGMA, tennis was one of only six sports to experience participation growth exceeding 40 percent from ‘00 through ‘08. (We ain’t lyin’.) Tennis is well ahead of others like baseball, hockey, gymnastics and football, all of which suffered (the-sky-is falling) declines in participation during the past eight years. In the last year alone, tennis experienced a 9.6 percent growth. In December, tennis participation reached a record high of 27 million players, more than at any other period in the past 15 years. Sales of rackets and balls have also increased significantly, most notably, an 88 percent increase in the sale of youth rackets from ‘03 through ‘08. Just compare this with golf, which has gone south big time. Can you spell double bogey?
While developing a top-flight junior player can be more than pricey, recreational play is actually quite the bargain. There are low- or no-cost public courts in virtually every ‘burb, city and village in the land. Playing on some public golf courses can run you $100 a round. And to our recession-battered ears, that doesn’t sound so public. Skiing runs you $85 to $95 a day for a lift ticket alone, and let’s not even talk about the cost of getting to the mountain or your bills for staying in that snazzy alpine village.
Still, some in the media continue to blather on, dissing our sport while editors relegate want-to-be-heard tennis stories to the back nooks and crannies of the sports page. This despite the happy fact that there’s not only a scintillating rivalry at the top of the game – Nadal vs. Federer- and that the two highest earning female athletes (on court and off) are both tennis players — Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.
All the while, on the ground, tennis continues to thrive as part and parcel of the lifestyle of so many. So why has there been this feel good success? What’s the secret sauce? There’s many a reason. Here are our top 10.
1. THE SPORT OF A LIFETIME: From Andre Agassi having a tennis ball dangled over his crib to 90-year-old wonders (clunky knees and deep-wrinkles-be-damned) who can still crack cross-court topspin winners, tennis keeps on giving. In this vein, Vic Braden tells the tale of a fabled match between two 90-something players in which the 91-year-old is crushing the 93-year-old. The 91-year-old is diving. He’s an animal. Finally, the 93-year-old pauses and says, “Oh, to be 91 again!” Unlike some other sports, where young children are forced to run in packs chasing a ball, even kindergartners can learn to hit a ball over the net and chase down a swerving half-lob. Plus, seniors can still play the game at a high level and enjoy both camaraderie and competition. Heck, some of the most enjoyable matches ever are played in grandparent/grandchild events, and youth vs. experience matchups that pit tireless young legs against wise, savvy minds.
2. THE FITNESS FACTOR: When you go to a gym to run on an elliptical machine, you get a cardio workout. And that’s just what tennis delivers — stop, start, stop, start, up and down. But tennis also demands short sprints back and forth, lateral movement and also gives the shoulders, arms and midsections crisp workouts. Today, in-shape players can also burn hundreds of calories in fun, popular Cardio Tennis workouts.
3. EASY ENTRY: It used to be that to become an adept tennis player you were all but required to have an annuity, a trust fund or an uncle who was a VP at Morgan Stanley, and while memberships at some golf clubs require seven-figure fortunes, tennis remains an easy-entry sport with few equipment or facility requirements. It’s easy to get kids started via Quick Start Tennis, the new user-friendly format for learning to play which uses specialized equipment, shorter court dimensions and modified scoring, all tailored to kids under 10. It’s a snap. Then there are the more than 2,600 Tennis Welcome Centers across the country, which give folks a simple way to learn the game, or find a partner.
4. SOCIAL SIZZLE: Where else do you get the benefit of playing individual sport with the camaraderie of a team (think USTA League and Junior Team Tennis)? And tennis literally invented the mixed doubles format, where guys and gals can compete both with and against each other in an often-jolly (okay, occasionally intense) doubles format. Want to team up with your life partner and whiz passing shots down the line together? Try the USTA’s Mixed Leagues. Want to play against your beloved (okay, occasionally irritating) spouse and fire an ace past him? Then just invite another couple to your club or park and let ‘dem emotions rip.
5. ‘TIME’S A WASTIN’: In this frenzied little world, few among us have five hours to play an oh-so-slow-paced round of golf, or to drive up to the icy slopes to go downhill for a day. But plenty of folks have the time to head over to the neighborhood park, mix it up in a hardcore singles match for an hour and then back that up with a lively dubs contest. Now we’re talking time efficiency.
6. NOT TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL: While few middle schools have courts, almost every high school and most colleges do. Sure, not every kid can play No. 1 on the varsity. Still, every player should be able to maintain his or her skills in a competitive manner, which is why the USTA’s No-Cut programs have taken off in high schools, with over 2,000 coaches now implementing a no-cut philosophy for those who try out. College programs like Tennis on Campus have courts buzzing with intramural play. Some 500 campuses have organized play for 30,000 participants.
7. BOYS AND GIRLS SHOULD BE FRIENDS: No top-tier sport is played by both sexes at such a high level as tennis, which is why — from Korea to Kalamazoo — Sharapova and Serena are celebrated icons who’re in high demand as product endorsers. Tennis not only celebrates macho players like Nadal and Roddick, but smart, feminine jockettes like the Williams sisters, the Russians and Serbians. And what other sport can boast so many female stars who are simply known by a single name: Billie Jean, Chrissie, Martina, Venus and Monica?
8. A MIND IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE: Go to any gym and what do you see: people on a treadmill or exercise bike watching TV or reading magazines. But on a tennis court, your mind is constantly churning, analyzing points and discerning tactics. Focus, relax. Think Zen! People relish physical release, but they also want to be in the moment. Here’s a game that invites and awards clear thinking. What a combination: a unique mind-body dynamic.
9. THE PRO PIECE: In the tradition of Arthur Ashe, Billie Jean King and Andre Agassi, role models abound in the game. There are the rags-to-riches Williams sisters; super survivors Monica Seles and James Blake, who overcame so much; the glitzy (Siberian maiden does Hollywood) tale of Sharapova; the middle-class ascents of Federer and Nadal to international icons; the emergence from war-torn Serbia of Djokovic, Ivanovic and Jankovic; and Scotland’s school shooting survivor Andy Murray. Plus, just watching the pros performing in fabled venues before captivated throngs is an inspiration in itself. Whether they’re crushing impossible-to-reach passes, blasting blowtorch 140-mph serves, caressing deft drop shots, or discovering unimaginable angles you didn’t even know existed, it’s enough to get any rec player off the couch onto the court in no time for some (“dare-I-try-it”) mimicry.
10. THE JOY OF TENNIS: No one says, “Hey, let’s go get a tennis workout.” It’s “Let’s play tennis,” or, “Let’s go hit.” It’s playtime. It’s the sheer joy of ball striking, of athletic movement, of improving, of sweating bullets, nailing a topspin crosscourt backhand or pushing your dead-tired legs toward a sinking ball that you power down-the-line for a winner in the tie-breaker that propels your league team into the Sectionals for the first time. This game has it all.
