Solved - why Europeans dominate tennis

FiReFTW

Legend
Talent pool? Are you joking lol, US is basically getting talents from all over the world and offering collage recruitments for the talented kids around the whole world.
 

G&G

New User
Talent pool? Are you joking lol, US is basically getting talents from all over the world and offering collage recruitments for the talented kids around the whole world.

No, I am not. Please name those talents that you mean. What the US has is Florida, where you can train all year round, plenty of courts, but how about affordability for regular family to let the children learn tennis? What about travelling to the tournaments within the US? What about other states of the US? Is it affordable to get indoor courts in north states?

You have mentioned college system. That’s correct, you attract plenty of foreigners but simply because they don’t have enough resources and probably talent to play futures tournaments and the US college system prolongs their dream of playing competitive tennis free of charge and they get some kind of education (very questionable topic as what level of education you get if you train 3-4 hours a day and play matches?).

Basically there is no point to go to US as you can get everything you need at the Mouratoglu tennis academy, Rafa Nadal academy or Sanchez Casal. There are also plenty of other small academies like Henin, Cleijsters and other.
 

blablavla

G.O.A.T.
No, I am not. Please name those talents that you mean. What the US has is Florida, where you can train all year round, plenty of courts, but how about affordability for regular family to let the children learn tennis? What about travelling to the tournaments within the US? What about other states of the US? Is it affordable to get indoor courts in north states?

You have mentioned college system. That’s correct, you attract plenty of foreigners but simply because they don’t have enough resources and probably talent to play futures tournaments and the US college system prolongs their dream of playing competitive tennis free of charge and they get some kind of education (very questionable topic as what level of education you get if you train 3-4 hours a day and play matches?).

Basically there is no point to go to US as you can get everything you need at the Mouratoglu tennis academy, Rafa Nadal academy or Sanchez Casal. There are also plenty of other small academies like Henin, Cleijsters and other.

@G&G are you basically saying that playing all year round (winter included) on outdoor clay in let's say France, Serbia, Russia, Germany and Canada is reality?
What if I tell you that it is not, and indoor courts are quite expensive during winter season and difficult to book?

or do you perhaps think that good coaches are "affordable"?
Zverev was coached by his father
Rublev's father owns a bunch of restaurants in Moscow
Mevedev trains in Monaco since years, financed by his parents
Shapovalov if I remember well as well is coached by his parents (mom)
Tsitsipas is coached by his father

and if you think that a "regular family" can afford sending their kid to Rafa Nadal academy or Sanchez Casal or other small academies like Henin, Cleijsters and other, then you probably have no clue about the financial reality of life in Europe.
perhaps for a week or few weeks during holidays it is possible, but sending the kid for longer training is a significant financial burden not affordable for most families.

11 French
10 USA
10 Spanish
07 Italian
06 Argentinian
05 Aussie
05 Serbian
04 Russian
04 German
04 Canadian
 

FiReFTW

Legend
Yes courts are super expensive in europe specially in winter meanwhile us has free public courts and also alot of places havr summer all year long or at least good temperatures to play outside whole year.
Lol US has much better conditions for tennis players.
 

UnderratedSlam

G.O.A.T.
Shows your total ignorance about those sports.

The ability to hit a pitched baseball at 100mph plus speeds is often considered the single hardest skill in any major sport. Degree of difficulty is so hard that HOF careers for hitters are often based on a 3 in 10 success ratio per at bat. Brawn? Yeah, some sluggers are big guys but there are plenty of average sized athletes who excel. Jose Altuve is Diego Schwartzman sized (5’6”, 165 lbs) but was AL MVP one year as part of league leading batting average three straight years. He will make $46million each of the next two years and $78million more through 2024, when he turns 34. Schwartzman will struggle to make a tenth of that $26million per annum when he’s that age.

Football “knuckleheads” like Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Pat Mahomes make millions dissecting opposing defenses to make extremely sophisticated offensive game plans succeed. Their WRs run 4.3 40-yard dashes, something even the fastest tennis players can’t do.

I see you left basketball out of your most intelligent of analyses. If you had gone there, I’m sure you would say something very wise like they’re all behemoths with no physically redeeming qualities other than height. Stephen Curry will LOL all the way to the bank to count millions...$245million of them over 9 years.
Yeah, that´s why baseball players have such HIGH IQs and such slim bodies, because it´s a high-skill sport... Laughable.

There are good reasons we Europeans laugh at American sports. Baseball and football are utter nonsense.
 

G&G

New User
@G&G are you basically saying that playing all year round (winter included) on outdoor clay in let's say France, Serbia, Russia, Germany and Canada is reality?
What if I tell you that it is not, and indoor courts are quite expensive during winter season and difficult to book?

or do you perhaps think that good coaches are "affordable"?
Zverev was coached by his father
Rublev's father owns a bunch of restaurants in Moscow
Mevedev trains in Monaco since years, financed by his parents
Shapovalov if I remember well as well is coached by his parents (mom)
Tsitsipas is coached by his father

and if you think that a "regular family" can afford sending their kid to Rafa Nadal academy or Sanchez Casal or other small academies like Henin, Cleijsters and other, then you probably have no clue about the financial reality of life in Europe.
perhaps for a week or few weeks during holidays it is possible, but sending the kid for longer training is a significant financial burden not affordable for most families.

In France you can play outdoor tennis on clay. Mouratoglu academy is in South of France and they play outdoors all year round. I am sure there are other courts in that region that have smaller academies unknown for massive public. France also has many indoor clay courts, as well as Germany and Czech Republic. Not sure about Serbia, but I know there are some in Croatia. I doubt that Russia has, but let’s say such country like Belarus certainly has 1 tennis center with outdoor clay courts near Minsk. But even if the country doesn’t have the indoor tennis clay tennis courts, the summer time is mostly on clay.

What concerns the indoor courts in winter time, the availability depends from country to country and even varies within the country. Where I live it is not easy, but possible.

What concerns good coaches – somehow French players, Czechs’ find good coaches and their players are the leaders in junior tennis..
Your example of Zverev, Rublev and others doesn’t mean much as it is pure luck because there are tons of players that parents were tennis coaches and they didn’t succeed. Take the Tsitsipas and Thiem’s cases. Both have younger brothers who won’t succeed even if they have the same coaching and financial resources aren’t an issue.
I didn’t say that regular family can afford sending kids to these academies full board. What I said that if somebody contemplates to send kids to IMG academy in Florida, then there is no point to do this as there are similar alternatives in Europe, maybe even better.

I do live in Europe and I am well aware of economic situation, but you probably agree that the cost of living differs in Europe, so tennis costs probably are also less in Czech Republic than in Germany or Russia?
 

blablavla

G.O.A.T.
In France you can play outdoor tennis on clay. Mouratoglu academy is in South of France and they play outdoors all year round. I am sure there are other courts in that region that have smaller academies unknown for massive public.

France is a big country.
While at Mediterranean coast it might be possible to play on outdoor clay all season long, I doubt that the kids from Paris area or Lyon area can play on outdoor clay all around the year.

France also has many indoor clay courts, as well as Germany and Czech Republic. Not sure about Serbia, but I know there are some in Croatia. I doubt that Russia has, but let’s say such country like Belarus certainly has 1 tennis center with outdoor clay courts near Minsk. But even if the country doesn’t have the indoor tennis clay tennis courts, the summer time is mostly on clay.

Which indoor clay courts are you talking about?
The balloons that cover clay courts?
Well, I'm not going to talk about France or CZ, but Germany doesn't have so many balloons as to cover all courts. That's a fact. Beyond, it is not uncommon to have poor heating in balloons in Germany, so that training looks more like playing tennis on ice.
What is 1 tennis center with outdoor clay for 10 Mio people and for the country with Belarus size? do you know how many hours it takes you to travel from point A to that center if you don't live in Minsk?
Try booking either an indoor court or the balloon covered for winter season in Germany. Good luck.

I do live in Europe and I am well aware of economic situation, but you probably agree that the cost of living differs in Europe, so tennis costs probably are also less in Czech Republic than in Germany or Russia?

you probably agree that Europe is not 1 country, but a bunch of countries at different levels of development that try to pretend to be 1 country.
and you probably agree that while the absolute cost of tennis lessons is different, when you adjust it to the net income (disposable income which = salary minus taxes) and further adjust it to some expenses that are mandatory, like apartment rent, etc., I am not sure that tennis lessons become all of a sudden affordable for average families in Czech Republic as opposed to average families in Germany or Russia.
This is of course if we talk about proper lessons, which most likely are individual lessons, at a reasonable frequency.

Your example of Zverev, Rublev and others doesn’t mean much as it is pure luck because there are tons of players that parents were tennis coaches and they didn’t succeed. Take the Tsitsipas and Thiem’s cases. Both have younger brothers who won’t succeed even if they have the same coaching and financial resources aren’t an issue.

you either probably understand very little about what it takes to become a professional athlete or it is a very bad joke.
go say this to Rublev, Zverev or Thiem that it is pure luck.
you can add that with that amount of luck they are really stupid to go into tennis, as going to LA / Macau / Monaco / other legally operating casino would bring them much more money with less stress.
 

G&G

New User
France is a big country.
While at Mediterranean coast it might be possible to play on outdoor clay all season long, I doubt that the kids from Paris area or Lyon area can play on outdoor clay all around the year.



Which indoor clay courts are you talking about?
The balloons that cover clay courts?
Well, I'm not going to talk about France or CZ, but Germany doesn't have so many balloons as to cover all courts. That's a fact. Beyond, it is not uncommon to have poor heating in balloons in Germany, so that training looks more like playing tennis on ice.
What is 1 tennis center with outdoor clay for 10 Mio people and for the country with Belarus size? do you know how many hours it takes you to travel from point A to that center if you don't live in Minsk?
Try booking either an indoor court or the balloon covered for winter season in Germany. Good luck.



you probably agree that Europe is not 1 country, but a bunch of countries at different levels of development that try to pretend to be 1 country.
and you probably agree that while the absolute cost of tennis lessons is different, when you adjust it to the net income (disposable income which = salary minus taxes) and further adjust it to some expenses that are mandatory, like apartment rent, etc., I am not sure that tennis lessons become all of a sudden affordable for average families in Czech Republic as opposed to average families in Germany or Russia.
This is of course if we talk about proper lessons, which most likely are individual lessons, at a reasonable frequency.



you either probably understand very little about what it takes to become a professional athlete or it is a very bad joke.
go say this to Rublev, Zverev or Thiem that it is pure luck.
you can add that with that amount of luck they are really stupid to go into tennis, as going to LA / Macau / Monaco / other legally operating casino would bring them much more money with less stress.

Of course nobody plays on clay outside in winter time in Paris or Lyon, but I have been in Auray last February and we could easily play outside on hard (but not clay) courts as there were no courts for warmup. The weather was friendly enough.

I did not say that all European countries play on clay all year round. Some do, some don’t, some partially. My point was that summer time is mostly on clay in most countries.
Yes, I meant balloons. Not all of them are properly heated but neither the hard courts. As I said, I have been in Auray, where the famous junior u12 tournament is held, so the indoor courts didn’t have the heating system at all. But somehow it doesn’t prevent them to have one of the prestigious tournaments in Europe among u12. Where I live the balloons are heated. It is always up to you. If you want to play, you play.

I don’t know how many clay indoor courts are in Belarus, I just mentioned just one that I certainly know.

I don’t get your point concerning the economic differences within the Europe. You want to say that only millionaires can afford playing tennis?

I didn’t joke about Thiem, Zverev and others. Of course they do and did have talent and put a lot of efforts and money but a lot of guys did the same and did not succeeded. My point is that they are super lucky that their hard work paid off.
 

blablavla

G.O.A.T.
I don’t get your point concerning the economic differences within the Europe. You want to say that only millionaires can afford playing tennis?

yes, tennis is a sport where a kid from an average earning family has very little chances to succeed without further support from elsewhere: e.g. Tennis Federation or sponsors

Halep for example was sponsored.
It did work-our in her case, so she can pay off from prize money.
How do you think kids that don't break through to the top pay off the investment? in particular in Eastern Europe?

or do you think that an average German salary can pay off training and travelling?
google says that average gross salary in Germany = 45k EUR / year.
Minus roughly 40% taxes = 27k EUR / year
Minus rent
minus food
minus clothing

how much money do you think remains for tennis training and travelling?
and typically out of 2 parents, 1 will be working full time, while the other will be either at home, or having a part time job, so an average family doesn't have 90k income from 2 adults.

And on the lower scale, people that work in retail sector for example, REWE, Aldi, Kaufland, Lidl, etc., can earn as less as 650-700 EUR gross per month (8400 EUR gross per year).
How much tennis training and travelling can they afford for their kids?
 

sureshs

Bionic Poster
Why does clay require patience and point construction?
What exactly is the difference between playing on clay and hard court?
As a 2.5 sandbagger, I never noticed any difference except some bad bounces from time to time.

Clay slows down the ball so outright winners and aces are rarer.
 

victorcruz

Hall of Fame
Same reason the US does not succeed in soccer or football. Our best athletes are going to basketball, football, baseball. Tennis takes way more dedication to master than these other sports.
 

Rosstour

G.O.A.T.
I think Americans, especially the kind that gravitate to tennis, are far wealthier than the average European, including Western Europeans. It's possible Americans are just softer and less driven due to this.i don't say this as a dig towards either group, just an observed sociological working hypothesis from a guy on a tennis forum.

I think you may be onto something--and on the flip side, to prove your point even further, most of our top players now are coming from poorer (Eastern) European countries and settling in the wealthier ones.

How many of the best players from [insert country here] have names ending in '-ic' or '-ov'?

I think the 'American problem' in tennis isn't just America...it's the whole English-speaking world.

US, UK, AUS, CA...who do we have?

Whereas in the 90s there were multiple Slam winners from both US and AUS.
 

deaner2211

Semi-Pro
No need to debate this anymore.


—Talent pool: The higher level of interest in tennis in Europe, compared to the U.S., may mean that a higher percentage of promising young athletes choose the sport.

—Coaching: When Patrick McEnroe announced his departure as head of USTA player development a few years ago, he cited “coaching education” as the most important aspect of the U.S. game that needed to be improved. Knowledgeable observers say there’s higher standard of expertise for coaches in Europe, and what’s happening in Canada right now might bear that out. Since hiring the former head of France’s junior development program, Louis Borfiga, Canada has had a surge of success, which peaked this month with Bianca Andreescu’s win at the US Open.

—Surface: The baseline game that was once the exclusive province of clay is now played on every type of court. That seems to give Europeans, who are more likely to play on clay as kids, a leg up in learning the patience and point construction that’s needed to succeed everywhere today. American men, meanwhile, mostly write off the two-month clay season and the ranking points that come with it.

—Mindset: European players, who speak multiple languages and cross national borders regularly, seem to adapt more easily to the disorientingly international nature of tennis. Medvedev, of Russia, made his breakthrough in the foreign lands of Washington, D.C. and Mason, Ohio, and he played the New York crowd like a fiddle during the Open. By contrast, the highest-ranked player in the U.S, John Isner, has won 14 of his 15 career titles on home soil.
I would say the biggest reason was Tiger Woods. When Tiger turned the golfing world upside down, fathers removed their sons out of tennis and into golf thinking they can make the next Tiger. Next would be in the US there are more options for kids such as Football, Basketball, and Baseball, which are the biggest sports, followed by Soccer, Hockey, and Boxing. Even NASCAR is more popular than tennis. Tennis and Golf (Now that Tiger is not at the top) are an after thought in American sports.
 

UnderratedSlam

G.O.A.T.
Fluoride.

The US has finally achieved to permeate all their food chain with it, and it's getting to the kid's brains, along with the vaccines, antidepressants and whatever chemicals are unleashed on the food supply.

Kids are busy getting diabetes, autism, asperger, ADHD, lyme, etc...they barely have time for anything else.

Americans are simply among the least healthy population in the world nowadays.
Their government make sure of that.
That´s a bit of a stretch.
 

stringertom

Bionic Poster
There's an explosion of degenerative diseases there.

Ken Flach even died 1 year ago from sepsis at 54.
Hey, I’m allergic to aluminum so I can’t stand next to your tin foil crown.

smh, one guy in his 50s dies as your proof an entire country’s populace is being systematically poisoned by Big Brother.
 

UnderratedSlam

G.O.A.T.
Believe your own astigmatism. I have refuted your every slur. It’s quite more comfortable for you not to see the reality of the rest of the world, it seems. It would be very easy to pick a superior squad of athletes from any of the three major team sports in North America to compete with your chosen “superior tennis athletes” from Europe.

Did you even watch the video? That was from one month! Please help me find a fat person in that highlight reel.
If you actually believe I´ll bore myself with american sports clips, when I´ve got a million YT clips to chose from, then you are very optimistic.

Especially on a tennis forum. Can we have more whining about baseball and football not getting RESPEC on a tennis thread?
 

stringertom

Bionic Poster
If you actually believe I´ll bore myself with american sports clips, when I´ve got a million YT clips to chose from, then you are very optimistic.

Especially on a tennis forum. Can we have more whining about baseball and football not getting RESPEC on a tennis thread?
You’re the argumentative source of our disagreement from a response to another poster’s inquiry as to the reason behind American women outnumbering our men at the top of the sport. I simply pointed out to him/her that the women here have no high payouts available to them like young American males.

You had to butt in and throw shade at these athletes through your myopic vision of tennis. I called you out for what you are...ignorant of the rest of the world. Go ahead and live happily in your shortsightedness.

My last communication with you due to your pompous and worthless attitude. Like I said, enjoy your narrow little existence. Ciao!
 

UnderratedSlam

G.O.A.T.
You’re the argumentative source of our disagreement from a response to another poster’s inquiry as to the reason behind American women outnumbering our men at the top of the sport. I simply pointed out to him/her that the women here have no high payouts available to them like young American males.

You had to butt in and throw shade at these athletes through your myopic vision of tennis. I called you out for what you are...ignorant of the rest of the world. Go ahead and live happily in your shortsightedness.

My last communication with you due to your pompous and worthless attitude. Like I said, enjoy your narrow little existence. Ciao!
I am proud of being ignorant about boring and dumb sports. Sort of like I´m proud of never having been arrested for anything.
 
Talent pool? Are you joking lol, US is basically getting talents from all over the world and offering collage recruitments for the talented kids around the whole world.

College players are very good but largely not top class players. There are exceptions like isner or Blake but most top college guys end up low in the top100 (like rubin, klahn, Johnson)
 
Yeah, that´s why baseball players have such HIGH IQs and such slim bodies, because it´s a high-skill sport... Laughable.

There are good reasons we Europeans laugh at American sports. Baseball and football are utter nonsense.

Are you kidding? What has fitness to do with skill? Baseball doesn't take good stamina but technically it is very tough and takes a ton of time to learn. Most players are in the minor leagues several years until they are 23-24. Hitting a baseball is considered the toughest thing in sports because you have a round bat and the reaction time is so short. Think about standing at the net and hit a swinging volley against a 90 mph passing shot.

Baseball doesn't take much fitness but a ton of technique, speed and power.
 

UnderratedSlam

G.O.A.T.
Are you kidding? What has fitness to do with skill? Baseball doesn't take good stamina but technically it is very tough and takes a ton of time to learn. Most players are in the minor leagues several years until they are 23-24. Hitting a baseball is considered the toughest thing in sports because you have a round bat and the reaction time is so short. Think about standing at the net and hit a swinging volley against a 90 mph passing shot.

Baseball doesn't take much fitness but a ton of technique, speed and power.
That´s all you have to learn. To blast a ball in an approximate direction. So random...
 

terribleIVAN

Hall of Fame
Hey, I’m allergic to aluminum so I can’t stand next to your tin foil crown.

smh, one guy in his 50s dies as your proof an entire country’s populace is being systematically poisoned by Big Brother.

Autism increased from 1 in 2500 (1960) to 1 in 45 today.

And still rising every-single-year.

Just like child cancer (+31% between 1975 and 2007), or general population diabetes mellitus (1.6% in 1960, 9.5% today)

Draw your own conclusions.
 
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Standaa

G.O.A.T.
Serve bombs, hope it doesn't come back, if it does, run around your backhand (which is 2-handed for everyone) and hit big forehands. It's like every American tennis player is cut in the image of Andy Roddick.

wearing a white cup gives you bonus points
 

Sudacafan

Bionic Poster
The US needs a Santoro.
France needs an Isner.
I think I need a drink, though it’s early in the morning.
@SoBad
 
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deaner2211

Semi-Pro
The real question is why do we see so many american female tennis players having an impact on the game but the male ones are struggling more?
Because American males have more sports options than females. The top 5 sports being Football, Baseball, Basketball, Hockey, and Soccer, with the top 4 being male dominant.
 

deaner2211

Semi-Pro
I think Americans, especially the kind that gravitate to tennis, are far wealthier than the average European, including Western Europeans. It's possible Americans are just softer and less driven due to this.i don't say this as a dig towards either group, just an observed sociological working hypothesis from a guy on a tennis forum.
Americans are softer? I think European tennis players are softer than any NFL, NHL, NBA, or MLB player.
 

terribleIVAN

Hall of Fame
@ollinger we need you here:)

It's called trans-generational effect.

An affected generation will transmit the defect to their offspring, even if the offending factor has disappeared.

In this case, not only hasn't it disappeared, it got more present and other factors came increasing/potentiating it's deleterious effects.
 

deaner2211

Semi-Pro
No need to debate this anymore.


—Talent pool: The higher level of interest in tennis in Europe, compared to the U.S., may mean that a higher percentage of promising young athletes choose the sport.

—Coaching: When Patrick McEnroe announced his departure as head of USTA player development a few years ago, he cited “coaching education” as the most important aspect of the U.S. game that needed to be improved. Knowledgeable observers say there’s higher standard of expertise for coaches in Europe, and what’s happening in Canada right now might bear that out. Since hiring the former head of France’s junior development program, Louis Borfiga, Canada has had a surge of success, which peaked this month with Bianca Andreescu’s win at the US Open.

—Surface: The baseline game that was once the exclusive province of clay is now played on every type of court. That seems to give Europeans, who are more likely to play on clay as kids, a leg up in learning the patience and point construction that’s needed to succeed everywhere today. American men, meanwhile, mostly write off the two-month clay season and the ranking points that come with it.

—Mindset: European players, who speak multiple languages and cross national borders regularly, seem to adapt more easily to the disorientingly international nature of tennis. Medvedev, of Russia, made his breakthrough in the foreign lands of Washington, D.C. and Mason, Ohio, and he played the New York crowd like a fiddle during the Open. By contrast, the highest-ranked player in the U.S, John Isner, has won 14 of his 15 career titles on home soil.
The same thing can be said about Olympic track. American use to dominate the sprint events at the Olympics but now they are just contenders. Why? It is because of football. The game of football use to be about power but now it is about power and speed. The really fast guys are playing football instead of choosing a track career. Tennis has a short lived career in the lives of Americans during the 80's and 90's, now there is no desire for it. Just like track Americans have lost the desire for less masculine sports.
 

deaner2211

Semi-Pro
We're talking about tennis aren't we?
You said Americans in general you didnt say Americans that play tennis are soft. "I think Americans, especially the kind that gravitate to tennis,. It's possible Americans are just softer and less driven due to this." These are your words right?
 

Paul Coffey

New User
Shows your total ignorance about those sports.

The ability to hit a pitched baseball at 100mph plus speeds is often considered the single hardest skill in any major sport. Degree of difficulty is so hard that HOF careers for hitters are often based on a 3 in 10 success ratio per at bat. Brawn? Yeah, some sluggers are big guys but there are plenty of average sized athletes who excel. Jose Altuve is Diego Schwartzman sized (5’6”, 165 lbs) but was AL MVP one year as part of league leading batting average three straight years. He will make $46million each of the next two years and $78million more through 2024, when he turns 34. Schwartzman will struggle to make a tenth of that $26million per annum when he’s that age.

Football “knuckleheads” like Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Pat Mahomes make millions dissecting opposing defenses to make extremely sophisticated offensive game plans succeed. Their WRs run 4.3 40-yard dashes, something even the fastest tennis players can’t do.

I see you left basketball out of your most intelligent of analyses. If you had gone there, I’m sure you would say something very wise like they’re all behemoths with no physically redeeming qualities other than height. Stephen Curry will LOL all the way to the bank to count millions...$245million of them over 9 years.
So much true with this post. In US you’ve got to be mad to pursue tennis when other sports careers are available to you. No other country on earth pays $$$$ like the US does for its sports.

If the US set up its own tennis league what we know today as professional tennis would be over in a New York minute.

tenor.gif
 
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tennis24x7

Professional
I think that is just a coincidence. Probably you are joking.

Cricket became popular because the British brought it with them, and slowly started allowing affluent Indians to play with them.
I think the reason Cricket became popular is because of the different ways it can be played even if you are dirt poor. You can just use a flat wooden plank as a bat and you don't need a set of lines of certain size to play. Now with the easy access to money in India, I think the next few generations will start playing more tennis.
 

insideguy

G.O.A.T.
The same thing can be said about Olympic track. American use to dominate the sprint events at the Olympics but now they are just contenders. Why? It is because of football. The game of football use to be about power but now it is about power and speed. The really fast guys are playing football instead of choosing a track career. Tennis has a short lived career in the lives of Americans during the 80's and 90's, now there is no desire for it. Just like track Americans have lost the desire for less masculine sports.
Wait, less masculine sports? LOL. Man I just love eurosnobs. No one cares about Track in this country. Most serious track guys go to the NFL. The good football players in high school use Track as training.
 

James P

G.O.A.T.
American sprinting is as strong as it's ever been. Just a weird blip where two absolutely elite Jamaicans came up at the same time briefly displacing them. Bolt is a freak of nature and his records will probably take 20 years to fall, imo. Blake was phenomenal in his own right, but he's 30 now, so you'll see Americans coming back to the fore.
 

deaner2211

Semi-Pro
Wait, less masculine sports? LOL. Man I just love eurosnobs. No one cares about Track in this country. Most serious track guys go to the NFL. The good football players in high school use Track as training.
You need to read what I said again...wow the reading comprehension on this site is a joke.
 

stringertom

Bionic Poster
Tennis has been a global sport since its infancy. That the “traditional” power nations of the majority of the history of the game have faded to be replaced by Euronations is more easily explainable by $/€/£ than anything else. To be top 50 in the world in any sport is be a great accomplishment, no? If you reach top 50 in our sport , you are currently a recently turned 20-year-old named Miomir Kecmanovic who has barely earned $1million in prize money in combined singles/dubs.

In contrast, the 750th best (not top 50 by 700 places) MLB player earned $.55million before benefits and travel expenses. Every ATP player absorbs those expenses!

If you want to be Eurocentric like one particular poster disparaging the athletic talents of non-Euro athletes (Hello there Over-rated Minor! How ya doing?),

Here is the CV of the 50th rated EPL footballer, a guy by the name of Moussa Sissoko. He earned £6 per year over 5 years. Miomir, as much as I respect him, won’t earn £30million in his career.

The 50th highest paid player worldwide in basketball is a Latvian “pro” named Timma. Drafted 2R by the Dallas Mavericks in 2013, he has yet to play one minute of regular season NBA play.

Ask yourself an honest question, imaginary as it may turn out to be:

If you were a parent of a two/three sport prodigy and only one was our sport, would you push the young lad/lass away from a beggar’s banquet???
 
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UnderratedSlam

G.O.A.T.
Describes us waiting for a coherent response from you, Eurosnob!
First time ever I´ve been called a snob, that in itself is hilarious...

So are you saying baseball is a pleb sport and anyone who mocks it is upper-class?

Just trying to understand your reasoning here.
 

Clay lover

Legend
It's definitely about the money and the risk-reward ratio. No one is burning thousands for tennis lessons for their son to barely break even as a 100+ player. Team sports pay much more in the US for a much lower "ranked" player.

I'm sure with the population of the US it's possible for unnoticed talent to be spotted sponsored and nurtured but as others have said teaching methods and the lack of clay courts might have rendered them technically backwards in today's game.
 
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