Tennis in 2033

treblings · Jan 1, 2013

what will it be like?
- courts even slower?
- player´s height even more important?
- return of serve n´volley?
- aces at 200mph ?
- material innovations or restrictions?

let´s all look into our personal crystal ball and come up with scenarios

there´s a somewhat serious background to my question. tennis is a beautiful game with many facets and different playing styles.
should we teach our youngsters only todays power topspin game, or is there place for s&v, finesse and touch shots in the future?
are the coaches of today shaping tennis future by only teaching todays pro game?

luvforty · Jan 1, 2013

imagine you combine all the strength of the current top 10 and put it in 1 player, and double that, you get 2033 tennis.... or genetic engineering makes tennis totally irrelevant.

or - the pro game gets so far removed from the average rec player and it has to reverse course - wooden rackets with 65in maximum head size... (which is what I like to see).

treblings · Jan 1, 2013

luvforty said:
imagine you combine all the strength of the current top 10 and put it in 1 player, and double that, you get 2033 tennis.... or genetic engineering makes tennis totally irrelevant.

or - the pro game gets so far removed from the average rec player and it has to reverse course - wooden rackets with 65in maximum head size... (which is what I like to see).

possible scenarios
but wait....the pro game is so far removed from the average rec game already, the futures here already

slowfox · Jan 1, 2013

Technology will change it again. I see racquets like Star Wars light sabers. Players will jet around the court with hovercraft platforms. It will be so fast ! Oh wait, you said 2033 not 3033... haha

luvforty · Jan 1, 2013

eventually all sports competitions will be irrelevant.. we will become gattaca - only the purest genes are allowed to exist.

Nostradamus · Jan 1, 2013

players will be 8 foot 3 inches tall and lob will be obsolete

cluckcluck · Jan 1, 2013

There still won't be any American champions.

Ducker · Jan 1, 2013

lobs are pretty much already obselete

shazbot · Jan 1, 2013

I wish tennis was smiliar to Baseball.

Here we are, 2013, with all the modern technology and they are still using wooden baseball bats.

I think at some point they need to stop improving the racquet/string tecnology.

Even golf just made a rule that in a few years those 'hockey stick' like putters can no longer be used.

luvforty · Jan 1, 2013

i think in both sports, the new equipment benefits the elites far more than the average rec player... the poly string makes a difference in the pros, but only bring injured arms to the recs..

the multi-layer golf balls allow pros to drive 300+ years, but the recs still average 200.

but - I think the commercial side will not allow wooden rackets or persimmon drivers to return... because it's hard to justify selling a piece of lumber for $499 (the price of a super duper titanium high MOI driver), or $299 (the all mighty titanium racket).

Head Pegger · Jan 2, 2013

Most likely will have even more spin involved in the game
I don't see rackets changing dramatically but new string will probably be better. :shock:
All I want is for Hawkeye to be installed EVERYWHERE!

treblings · Jan 2, 2013

Head Pegger said:
Most likely will have even more spin involved in the game
I don't see rackets changing dramatically but new string will probably be better. :shock:
All I want is for Hawkeye to be installed EVERYWHERE!

arm-friendly polys

we actually have people in our club calling out for a hawkeye decision right now in 2013

TomT · Jan 2, 2013

luvforty said:
... the pro game gets so far removed from the average rec player and it has to reverse course - wooden rackets with 65in maximum head size... (which is what I like to see).

I like this idea a lot.

Would be very interesting to see what sort of tennis it produces.

treblings · Jan 2, 2013

TomT said:
I like this idea a lot. Would be very interesting to see what sort of tennis it produces.

would you like to see that only in the pro game, or with patzers(sorry, borrowed that expression from another post of yours

) like ourselves as well

Say Chi Sin Lo · Jan 2, 2013

The Hawaiian grip will return in the year 2033.

TomT · Jan 2, 2013

treblings said:
would you like to see that only in the pro game, or with patzers(sorry, borrowed that expression from another post of yours) like ourselves as well

Yeah, I used to play a lot of chess. Patzer refers to more or less perpetually bad, very amateurish, chess players. It can be used to refer to more or less perpetually bad, very amateurish, tennis players as well ... I guess.

TomT · Jan 2, 2013

treblings said:
would you like to see that only in the pro game, or with patzers(sorry, borrowed that expression from another post of yours) like ourselves as well

To answer your question, I learned to play with a 65 sq. in. wooden racquet. Served about 20 mph faster (about 105 mph) than I'm now able to with modern racquet (about 85 mph average). More reliable shots, etc. Much higher competitive level in those days. But I was 27 years old then. Didn't play for about 37 years. 37 years! Now I'm 65.

Just got back into tennis this year. Big difference from the old game. Different game. But it truly is a game for life, I think. Am adjusting to the newer racquets. My hope is to get back to at least a solid 3.5 level of play.

treblings · Jan 2, 2013

TomT said:
To answer your question, I learned to play with a 65 sq. in. wooden racquet. Served about 20 mph faster than I'm now able to with modern racquet. More reliable shots, etc. Much higher competitive level. But I was 27 years old then. Didn't play for about 37 years. 37 years! Now I'm 65. Big difference. Different game.

sure is a different game, that´s why i asked. i love playing with wooden racquets even now, but for the majority of people who learned their game with modern racquets it would be extremely difficult to adjust.
37 years is more than the average age of the posters around here

TomT · Jan 2, 2013

Say Chi Sin Lo said:
The Hawaiian grip will return in the year 2033.

What's the Hawaiian grip?

TomT · Jan 2, 2013

treblings said:
sure is a different game, that´s why i asked. i love playing with wooden racquets even now, but for the majority of people who learned their game with modern racquets it would be extremely difficult to adjust.
37 years is more than the average age of the posters around here

Yeah. I guess so. Wish I had kept up with it, but couldn't. Now that I'm retired, and in south Florida, can play to my heart's content. Love the game.

treblings · Jan 2, 2013

TomT said:
Yeah, I used to play a lot of chess. Patzer refers to more or less perpetually bad, very amateurish, chess players. It can be used to refer to more or less perpetually bad, very amateurish, tennis players as well ... I guess.

i like that word

heard it a lot when i was younger, bit old-fashioned nowadays in a nice way
also accurately describes my efforts at the chess board

Say Chi Sin Lo · Jan 2, 2013

TomT said:
What's the Hawaiian grip?

dominikk1985 · Jan 2, 2013

it will be played on a playstation which means andy murray is going to win slams into his 50s and finish as the GOAT with 100 slams.

Relinquis · Jan 2, 2013

Tennis isn't going retro. Think more tech, not less.

Tennis in 2033 will be a high tech form of singles-paddle, so the NanoSurfice(TM) courts will be surrounded by clear walls, with an extra high ceiling that drops down in 5th set tie breaks. The players will be team-owned* purposefully genetically engineered humans, supported with a myriad of performance enhancing drugs and bio-technology.

More tech all round, sensors / data measuring every player/projectile (balls discontinued since 2025) movement and conditions, all streamed to chips in spectators' frontal lobs, if they have subscriptions. For a premium subscription fee viewers will have emotioVision which will allow you to sense what your chosen avatar/player feels, every hit, the joy of every winner, the agony of every error, every drop of sweat, every tug of the rear-end of the shorts, every grunt and every injury!

The masses of spectators globally will get to 'vote' on playing conditions before every set by using a pay-per-vote icon on their iGooSung headsets: how responsive the projectile is to hits and what the wall and ground surfaces are like, what kind of weather conditions are simulated in the arena. Nanotechnology will allow dynamically changing surfaces between sets and randomly changing surfaces during 5th set tie breaks.

The highest bidding fans will end up controlling the human player avatars like that Gamer movie.

* Global Trade Law allows teams to own genetically engineered humans for their first 25 years of post birth as they are deemed the intellectual property of the team and are protected under copyright. Non-genetically engineered players, often but not exclusively from the frontier world (i.e. former developing world), are not allowed to compete under GTO (Global Tennis Organisation) sanctioned tournaments as their parents wouldn't have been able to afford to buy the 'right' gene combination deamed by regulations to be 'tennis-player'. These so called 'Non-Regs' are often bought by the corporate teams to be used as training partners for Gene-Approved players.

luvforty · Jan 2, 2013

^^ nice imagination.

yeah - eventually natural born persons will not be relevant.. the natural humans have too many flaws.

robots - mechanical or genetic engineered, will run the world.

well, maybe not as soon as 2033 though.

slowfox · Jan 2, 2013

Relinquis said:
Tennis isn't going retro. Think more tech, not less.

Tennis in 2033 will be a high tech form of singles-paddle, so the NanoSurfice(TM) courts will be surrounded by clear walls, with an extra high ceiling that drops down in 5th set tie breaks. The players will be team-owned* purposefully genetically engineered humans, supported with a myriad of performance enhancing drugs and bio-technology.

More tech all round, sensors / data measuring every player/projectile (balls discontinued since 2025) movement and conditions, all streamed to chips in spectators' frontal lobs, if they have subscriptions. For a premium subscription fee viewers will have emotioVision which will allow you to sense what your chosen avatar/player feels, every hit, the joy of every winner, the agony of every error, every drop of sweat, every tug of the rear-end of the shorts, every grunt and every injury!

The masses of spectators globally will get to 'vote' on playing conditions before every set by using a pay-per-vote icon on their iGooSung headsets: how responsive the projectile is to hits and what the wall and ground surfaces are like, what kind of weather conditions are simulated in the arena. Nanotechnology will allow dynamically changing surfaces between sets and randomly changing surfaces during 5th set tie breaks.

The highest bidding fans will end up controlling the human player avatars like that Gamer movie.

* Global Trade Law allows teams to own genetically engineered humans for their first 25 years of post birth as they are deemed the intellectual property of the team and are protected under copyright. Non-genetically engineered players, often but not exclusively from the frontier world (i.e. former developing world), are not allowed to compete under GTO (Global Tennis Organisation) sanctioned tournaments as their parents wouldn't have been able to afford to buy the 'right' gene combination deamed by regulations to be 'tennis-player'. These so called 'Non-Regs' are often bought by the corporate teams to be used as training partners for Gene-Approved players.

Get working on your screenplay. Hollywood's gonna option this...

Avles · Jan 3, 2013

Hawaiian grip will be considered "old-school" in 2033, as players will favor more extreme grips, like the Filipino grip and the Ni-Vanuatu grip.

watungga · Jan 3, 2013

Avles said:
Hawaiian grip will be considered "old-school" in 2033, as players will favor more extreme grips, like the Filipino grip and the Ni-Vanuatu grip.

Now I got a name for Gasquet's FH grip: a Filipino grip!

Relinquis · Jan 15, 2013

slowfox said:
Get working on your screenplay. Hollywood's gonna option this...

haha! i might need to add some romantic interest/love-story angle for it to work.

pvaudio · Jan 15, 2013

Relinquis said:
haha! i might need to add some romantic interest/love-story angle for it to work.

#1 seed falls in love with a ball girl at the Fiji Open, but her parents don't approve. They force him to decide between their daughter and his career. BAM! Send me the royalty checks to my home address

PCXL-Fan · Apr 25, 2013

Relinquis said:
Tennis isn't going retro. Think more tech, not less.

Beautiful post Relinquis. A masterpiece to be sure!

Relinquis · Apr 25, 2013

thanks for the kind comments guys... much appreciated.

i like the ball girl love interest angle... maybe we can make the #1 seed a non-reg posing as a GTO Sanctioned player.... something like "Gattaca", one of my favourite films...

Ethan Hawke is probably too old to play a tennis player, but would have been great when young.

ace_pace · Apr 25, 2013

You guys do realize the only way tennis got to where it is toady is because money right?

How can you make money from promoting wooden racquets that are all the 'same'. The development and the 'differences' in racquet technology are what fund a lot of tennis.

BU-Tennis · Apr 25, 2013

We've seen all the big changes that will ever happen in tennis.

The racquets are a big as they'll ever be, and all these new technologies in racquets don't really make them better, its just a marketing ploy.

I think we've even hit the upper limit of string technology until they come up with better coatings and materials to remove friction and provide better snap, thus creating even more topspin forcing courts to slow even more and balls to become more heavy, and then everyone will be like Nadal with two blown knees from the long, horribly boring I might add, rallies.

With that said, we'll probably figure out how to maximize human potential even more through better nutrition, advanced healing techniques, so we might see play sped up a bit to compensate and players might be able to have a career into their 40s and still win.

Fifth Set · Apr 27, 2013

ace_pace said:
You guys do realize the only way tennis got to where it is toady is because money right? How can you make money from promoting wooden racquets that are all the 'same'. The development and the 'differences' in racquet technology are what fund a lot of tennis.

You're giving the tennis equipment makers too much credit.

For starters, I'm not sure about where tennis "is today." It's still not mainstream. Tennis is a fringe sport when it comes to money and this has been discussed in many different threads. From the budget of the ATP (compare to NBA) to the amount of money the 100th best tennis player in the world makes (compare 100th best golfer), tennis really has no money.

More importantly, to the extent tennis has money at all, it's not because of sponsorship or ad dollars from perpetually struggling companies like Prince! Sporting goods makers are barely surviving themselves. What commercial success tennis has found is the result of personalities like Agassi, Mac and Connors, long term deals with television networks, huge tour name sponsors like Sony and wealthy tournament owners like Larry Ellison.

Those companies that buy TV ads during matches, give free stuff to players and buy cute little banners at the stadiums are pretty far down the food chain. And, even among those, I would argue that Rolex and Porsche are much more important to the financial health of the game than, say, Wilson and Volkl!

86golf · Apr 27, 2013

Streaming

Can only hope all D1 matches will be streamed in full hd, all L2 and National junior tournaments streamed and every talk tennis league match streamed live.

GoudX · Apr 27, 2013

You do realise the difference between now and 2033 is the same as the difference between now and 1991.

The game will be more or less the same, with more spin/power. Strings will offer more of both with the same control, frames will get even lighter.

The biggest change, the pros will be even fitter - Djokovic/Murray/Nadal levels of fitness will be standard for the top 100 or so.

Netplay and faster courts might come back into fashion to make up for the ridiculous level of fitness.

Most importantly though:
Head will release the Radical ElectoSponge, with more power and less shock.
Wilson will release the Federer Retro Tour 90 through tennis warehouse

Relinquis · Apr 27, 2013

so is the difference between 1991 and 1970... racquets went from 14oz wood to 12.5-13oz graphite... strings from Natural gut to hybrids, kevlar and poly... but the biggest changes were socio-economic... tennis became a global business and source of national pride vs. a pastime for the well heeled... the top tennis pros became wealthy celebs pushing consumer products vs. the faceless upper middle class... surfaces went from predominantly grass/clay to predominantly hardcourt... more and more decisions about the sport where constrained/drive by national agendas, TV requirements, corporate advertiser dollars and large, opaque professional bureaucracies.

the difference could be just a drastic, if not more... socio-economic impact of merging tennis, squash, paddle, badminton and table tennis with the technology* available in 2033 and the power structures in the world at that time will create something we can't really fathom... a new hybrid sport that will attract the serious marketing money. There have already been business folk, like Bernie** from F1 who have suggested limiting the amount of points, having set advertising breaks and limiting the time of matches... He didn't suggest his just in the press, rather he had had discussions about taking over the sport...

Look at football... teenagers in provincial town in China are religiously faithful to a teams based in 2nd tier European cities, which are comprised of players from all over the globe, not just wealthy nations and are owned by wealthy americans. it's a very different dynamic from the support your neighbourhood/city team because that' where you grew up/what your dad supported dynamic of just a few decades ago.

Or maybe tennis will remain as tennis... it will remain impervious to fundamental change... it will continue to be, ultimately, about one person across the net from another. A game, ultimately of skill and wits.

* Biotechnology, Nanotechnology, whateverotechnology, etc...
** http://www.sportsvibe.co.uk/news/f1/exclusive-ecclestone-nearly-became-world-tennis-supremo-24339/

martini1 · Apr 27, 2013

86golf said:
Can only hope all D1 matches will be streamed in full hd, all L2 and National junior tournaments streamed and every talk tennis league match streamed live.

Not only that but you got the (sun)glasses cam, racket cam, and hell even a ball cam.

No more line judge as every inch of the court is made of smart court sensors. Balls are called in/out to the 1mm.

Tamiya · May 11, 2013

ace_pace said:
You guys do realize the only way tennis got to where it is toady is because money right? How can you make money from promoting wooden racquets that are all the 'same'. The development and the 'differences' in racquet technology are what fund a lot of tennis.

graphite is still Carbon-12, whichever way you arrange its molecules

vs

do you know how many different types of trees there are? marketers' wetdream :twisted:

GuyClinch · May 13, 2013

I don't think its going to be that different. It's not like tennis from the 1993 is unrecognizable or anything. Maybe slice will make a comeback..

Frank Silbermann · May 13, 2013

I think the odds are very slim that pros twenty years from now will be using correct technique.

Tennis in 2033

Hall of Fame

Banned

Hall of Fame

Professional

Banned

Bionic Poster

Hall of Fame

Rookie

Semi-Pro

Banned

New User

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

G.O.A.T.

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

G.O.A.T.

Legend

Hall of Fame

Banned

Professional

Hall of Fame

Professional

Hall of Fame

Legend

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

Rookie

Semi-Pro

Professional

Semi-Pro

Professional

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

Semi-Pro

Legend

Professional

Similar threads