Another summer passes by and with it, another US open tournament. The tennis
tournament consists of Men’s singles, Women’s singles, Men’s doubles, Women’s
doubles and mixed doubles. Despite in three of the five finals matches including
American competitors the US came away with zero championships in any of the
categories. Instead, Italy and other countries claimed prize money on US soil. This begs
the question, why can’t the USA win in tennis. Not long ago, Serena Williams was
dominating the courts and winning event after event representing the US. And in
recorded history, the US has won the most tennis tournaments. So, what’s the deal? I
think that the US just doesn’t care about tennis the way that other countries do. Looking
at the TV stats for the most watched sports Tennis places 6th and in played sports it
doesn’t even place in the top 20. The fact is that people in the US would rather play
sports like basketball and football than tennis. Using my personal experience, I know
that the best tennis players I know don’t even play Tennis as their first sport. Even with
the mass numbers of athletes that America has, they can’t seem to find a truly elite
group of tennis players to win some big tournaments.
tournament consists of Men’s singles, Women’s singles, Men’s doubles, Women’s
doubles and mixed doubles. Despite in three of the five finals matches including
American competitors the US came away with zero championships in any of the
categories. Instead, Italy and other countries claimed prize money on US soil. This begs
the question, why can’t the USA win in tennis. Not long ago, Serena Williams was
dominating the courts and winning event after event representing the US. And in
recorded history, the US has won the most tennis tournaments. So, what’s the deal? I
think that the US just doesn’t care about tennis the way that other countries do. Looking
at the TV stats for the most watched sports Tennis places 6th and in played sports it
doesn’t even place in the top 20. The fact is that people in the US would rather play
sports like basketball and football than tennis. Using my personal experience, I know
that the best tennis players I know don’t even play Tennis as their first sport. Even with
the mass numbers of athletes that America has, they can’t seem to find a truly elite
group of tennis players to win some big tournaments.
In order to fix this problem. I suggest that tennis is presented as a more accessible sport
espcially for poorer people. In most lower income communities in the US, you will find
basketball courts in the parks and rec centers. It’s hard to get people interested in a
sport when it feels that only wealthier communities can get the resources to play. This
goes for any sport that wants to expand its interest by I think that Tennis could see a
major boost in interest and play if they opened their doors to allow different kinds of
people to play.
At the end of the day, is this an issue that affects your daily life? No. But I thought it
would be interesting to cover and I think every sport should have some coverage shown
on it.
