Tennis: a snob sport for the upper class?

[Someone Else]

Why has tennis traditionally always been a snob sport for the upper class?
A related question would be why tennis is universally loved by all rich people.
I don't know of a single upper class wealthy snob who has never played
tennis before.
It was not until the arrival of public tennis courts, that ordinary working class
peasants were able to play this sport.
At least tennis is not a socialist working class sport like badminton
or handball, but I also do not like its exclusive nature and snob heritage.

[gavna]

I love the fact it's such a snob and elitist game. I think it's great the riffraff have their public facilities as its hard enough to get good court time as it is. It's nice when I'm able to sit and have a decent conversion about the next round of layoffs or plant closings my board and I are planning, hate to have folks in cutoff shorts and (my god) canvas tennis shoes running around.

Let the proletariat's have Football (soccer for the yanks).

[sureshs]

Tennis is a sophisticated sport for sophisticated people.

[Doubles]

Wait, how is badminton a Socialist sport?

[Someone Else]

Originally Posted by Doubles

Wait, how is badminton a Socialist sport?

Not just socialist, but a socialist working class sport.
Because badminton is universally loved by all working class peasants
in socialist countries.

[Tiebreak100]

A glance at Queens club during the summer is enough to give you the dry boak. I personally think tennis would be better if it did appeal to a wider audience. The game is too stuffy and obsessed with dated traditions that most struggle to relate to. The game needs more controversial figures/rivalries and needle to appeal to the average Joe. Tennis should be for the people, not just the rancid strawberry munchers.

[TheBoom]

Just look at the cost of a racket and balls vs a football/cleats

[JustBob]

I wonder if Kim Jong-un will be able to break his father's record of 146 grand slams.

[Phoenix1983]

Originally Posted by JustBob

I wonder if Kim Jong-un will be able to break his father's record of 146 grand slams.

He's currently 28 and already has 72 slams, having won every tournament he has entered since turning pro at the age of 10.

He would have to play until he is 47 to break the record, but I see age as no barrier to the Great Successor.

Of course Kim-Jong Il will likely remain the all-round greatest sportsman, as on top of his tennis career, he also won every major in golf 10 times, getting a hole in one on every hole.

[Homeboy Hotel]

Wimbledon 'The Championships' IS tennis. Originating from the grass courts of South West London.

Middle-class white people being able to afford a ticket to watch tennis, it was seen as the norm. There, thats it.

[PrinceMoron]

How fast is the DMZ? Bet it has got slower over the years. Where is the fun in that?

[JustBob]

Originally Posted by Phoenix1983

He's currently 28 and already has 72 slams, having won every tournament he has entered since turning pro at the age of 10.

He would have to play until he is 47 to break the record, but I see age as no barrier to the Great Successor.

Of course Kim-Jong Il will likely remain the all-round greatest sportsman, as on top of his tennis career, he also won every major in golf 10 times, getting a hole in one on every hole.

Excellent analysis. I concur!

[forzamilan90]

Could you have made the font any smaller on the OP?

[Sid_Vicious]

Originally Posted by JustBob

I wonder if Kim Jong-un will be able to break his father's record of 146 grand slams.

Originally Posted by Phoenix1983

He's currently 28 and already has 72 slams, having won every tournament he has entered since turning pro at the age of 10.

He would have to play until he is 47 to break the record, but I see age as no barrier to the Great Successor.

Of course Kim-Jong Il will likely remain the all-round greatest sportsman, as on top of his tennis career, he also won every major in golf 10 times, getting a hole in one on every hole.

LOLOL.

Great stuff, guys.

[winstonplum]

Originally Posted by PrinceMoron

How fast is the DMZ? Bet it has got slower over the years. Where is the fun in that?

This might be the single funniest post in the history of TT. Congrats, dear sir.

[Gonzalito17]

Mostly smart people are attracted to playing tennis. You have to be smart to play and figure out ways to win. In playing serious tennis for 15 years now I have made the realization that there are a lot of intelligent people involved in tennis, on all levels.

[Bergboy123]

This thread is golden

[MAXXply]

Tennis was devised by the British as a leisurely pursuit for the wealthy classes. Most modern-day sports find their origins in the British upper classes of the 19th century. While my forebears were shipped across the world in prison hulks, left to burn in the Antipodean sun, the people who sent them down were holding parasols and enjoying tennis at garden parties on some rich person's back lawn. So yes, tennis' origins are upper class.

If you think badminton is a socialist-inspired opiate of the masses, then the DPRK-made kimchi has obviously rotted your brain.

[RF20Lennon]

It was meant to be played by royalty. Thats why King Henry VIII and all of them did. Part of the reason why I love wimbledon, brings back the royalty factor in tennis along with the class and grace.

[RF20Lennon]

Originally Posted by Irrelevant

This.

I'm going to be honest, some of the guys that around my age (16) who play at the club really are raised as a snobby, spoiled child. They're arrogant, have no sense of respect, and literally smash racquets and hit out balls just because their "rich" parents can buy them more. It's people like them
who make tennis seem like such a "snobby rich white man" sport.

I hate the "snobby" bit but i love the classy and elegant part of tennis. But everyone from a dirt poor man to a king should play it