Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Good question. In the 1970s-80s, and into the 1990s, it was pretty popular - not just playing tennis, but watching professional tennis. I remember having to wait to get court time, but now, the courts I see are rarely even used. Golf seemed to take over as a more popular sports than tennis awhile ago.
As for pro tennis, having non-Americans as the top players, especially on the mens' circuit, probably has a major influence. No McEnroe, no Connors, no Ashe, no Sampras or Agassi anymore. Top players are foreign to USA.
As for pro tennis, having non-Americans as the top players, especially on the mens' circuit, probably has a major influence. No McEnroe, no Connors, no Ashe, no Sampras or Agassi anymore. Top players are foreign to USA.
But players like Nadal and Federer are pretty recognizable and household names, even though they have a non-US passport.
I've given you my reasons why Americans aren't playing or watching tennis like they did 2-3 decades ago.
What's your theory?
BTW, Tennis was very popular to play in Germany about 2-3 decades ago, and now I think the sport has declined there as well. They had Becket, Stich, and Graf to follow. I lived there for awhile a couple of years ago and used to pass tennis courts/clay courts all the time and rarely see them being used like years ago when they were always being used.
I think tennis is a "fit" sport, and Americans are too fat to like it or play it. With football, a 300 lbs person can still cheer for his/her team and drink bear and eat wings and sit at the couch or go to the game and be totally okay. There are many reasons/excuses why he/she is not participating in the sport, because lack of enough friends/participants, and lack of courts/space. The samething can be said about baseball, hockey, and maybe even basketball. It's okay to watch and not participate.
You CANNOT say the samething about tennis. When was the last time you saw a 300 lbs person watching tennis at a Grand Slam Final? You see plenty of those at Super Bowl.
Simply put, Americans are not fit enough to like tennis.
I know tons of people who play tennis and who watch tennis.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.