What happened to Tennis?

[Teh_Bandwagoner]

Originally Posted by Russic

C'mon there are lots of tennis superstars ... it's just that they are all are chicks, have great cans and aren't that good at tennis.

For real?? Sharipova is a monster AND she wears short short skirts! That's ultimate win right there

[troutman]

[Hemmer]

^ hahaha maybe Tennis is like Atari or Coleco now

[Igottago]

I agree with the OP...there are some great players out there today, and obviously Federer is possibly the greatest of all time. But the players I have any interest in watching I can count on less than one hand, especially in mens tennis. It doesn't have the same crop of competetive and recognizable players that it used to.

[albertGQ]

It'd be pretty neat if after a subpar season Roger wins the French for the career grandslam. He was so dominant in other years and couldn't do it. I hope this is the year!

[dobbles]

i think mens tennis right now just doesn't have any successful americans... do you really think becker vs. bjorg would have been all that important had they not become household names by battling with mcenroe, conners, etc... there was the added bonus that those guys had very outgoing personalities. same thing with agassi, he had the lifestyle that everyone paid attention to. sampras was a pretty boring guy but really good. since then, its been a bunch of guys from countries that america doesn't much care for. seriously, a swiss guy and a spanish guy... not what draws the people in.

womens tennis got a lot more popular due to the large number of americans, and the overlal hotness of the players. i will also agree with the poster that noted mens tennis is a serve fest, whereas women still have rallies. but now, womens tennis is being overrun by russians. and while they are still hot, that doesn't seem to be enough to keep interest.

us americans are fickle and selfish. its the same reason we can't get a great sport like hockey to be more popular. we are all a bunch of homers down here!

[pope04]

I was thinking the same thing just a couple of weekends ago. I took my boys over to the local public court on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, and we were the only people there. It was great because the way we played, we needed a couple of extra courts to keep the ball movin'.

I remember back in the early to mid seventies tennis was HUGE. You'd wait for hours just for a chance to play.

[Machiavelli]

When American men like Blake and Roddick can't match their skills with mental toughness, it's not surprising that the overall popularity of tennis (in America) is down.

However, I watch Tennis (at least the majors) almost religiously.

[Hustle]

Originally Posted by Machiavelli

When American men like Blake and Roddick can't match their skills with mental toughness, it's not surprising that the overall popularity of tennis (in America) is down.

However, I watch Tennis (at least the majors) almost religiously.

Bang on. McEnroe, Sampras and Agassi carried USA tennis for a long while. Blake and Roddick have the personalities to carry American tennis, but right now their games aren't up to par. It's a shame too, because James Blake has one of the best personalities in the game.... he's just so inconsistent. (and Federer and Nadal are dominant right now)

Regardless, it's a shame that the popularity of tennis is down right now because people are missing out on a great rivalry between Federer and Nadal (and to a lesser extent Djokovic). I hope Federer finally gets his clay court major tomorrow.

[Frequitude]

Why men's tennis is in the dumper:

[Hemmer]

Remember the Monica Seles stabbing incident when she got stabbed during a match? It was an unfortunate incident but it sure brought alot of attention to tennis. Much like the Nancy Kerrigan clubbing incident, which propped figure skating popularity probably to its highest peak. Maybe Tennis needs some kinda freak incident to draw back its popularity.

[OILFAN #81]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

It'd be pretty neat if after a subpar season Roger wins the French for the career grandslam. He was so dominant in other years and couldn't do it. I hope this is the year!

Federer got owned today. Nadal won the French Open for the 4th straight year(3 in a row by beating Federer). Today was a thumping in straight sets: 6-1, 6-3, 6-0.

[SportsJunky]

It sounds like (I missed it damnit) one of the best finals matches of all time was just played on the weekend at Wimbeldon. Nadal is the real deal. Tennis is alive and well OP.

[czure32]

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

It sounds like (I missed it damnit) one of the best finals matches of all time was just played on the weekend at Wimbeldon. Nadal is the real deal. Tennis is alive and well OP.

I only caught the last 1.5 sets bewtween Nadal and Federer, but that was some amazing tennis

[Bunk]

I'd say tennis is in one of its best eras right now (at least on the men's side).

It's always fun to watch one of the best ever, and Federer could certainly be considered the best ever. Many of the past greats like Borg consider him the best ever. Also, one of the best rivalries right now in sport is Nadal and Federer. With Nadal continuing to win the French (probably the best Clay court player in history) and now finally overcoming Federer at Wimledon, there is a young star that will likely last another 8-10 years on tour. Nadal is also really exciting to watch because he is really quick, never gives up on any point, has amazingly powerful ground stroke and has a lot of flare on the court. Djokovic, who won the Australian is also a huge up and coming star (even though he's a giant ######).

Beyond those players there are a number that are consistently competitive including Davydenko, Blake, Roddick, Ferrer and and so on).

As for the quality of tennis, many are considering the Wimbledon final as the greatest match ever played. Incredibly high calibre of play from two of the all time greats.

[Thor]

Originally Posted by Frequitude

Why men's tennis is in the dumper:

Insert joke.. I'd like to put it in her dumper

[dissentowner]

How come nobody ever mentions Ivan Lendl as one of the greats? Everyone forgets about him but he was pretty good.