Is Talk Tennis Forum dying?

Sport

G.O.A.T.
Yes, because tennis is dying. The level is low, and no player younger than Novak/ Andy has had impact.

1 slam champion below 32: Cilic, 1 slam. That's all... Unreal and truly a catastrophe for tennis.
Tennis is bigger than the Big 3 and will never die.

There were tennis fans before the Big 3. People supported players like Hewitt, Roddick, Ferrero, Philipoussis. The same will happen in the future, with people suporting Tsitsipas, De Miñaur, Medvedev and company.
 

EllieK

Hall of Fame
That's not true at all. I just made a thread crediting Bautista Agut. You don't know what you're talking about.

I am a fan of tennis and not just Federer. I don’t think your generalizations are accurate at all. Many times during matches I am ashamed of some of the fan’s behavior such as cheering the double faults or unforced errors of Fed’s opponents. That’s just not cool.
 

EllieK

Hall of Fame
Well for one, I love Tsitsipas. I don't like his spoiled attitude sometimes, but he's got a great game and mentality overall.
Thiem didn't choke WTF, Tsitsipas was on fire in the 2nd set and proved too clutch in the end. Tsitsipas fully deserved his win.
Nadal is still a huge favorite at RG as things stand now. The Thiem thing is more of a hope that he goes on a clay rampage in 2020, given his dominance against big 3 in 2019.

tsitsipas has one of the most entertaining games of the next gen. Uses the full width of the court, defends well and he is not allergic to the net. Great overhead too. He’s a bit awkward and goofy as well as temperamental, but at least he is not boring. Some players are a real snooze fest. Love him or hate him, at least tsitsipas is entertaining to watch
 

junior74

Bionic Poster
Tennis is bigger than the Big 3 and will never die.

There were tennis fans before the Big 3. REALLY? :eek: People supported players like Hewitt, Roddick, Ferrero, Philipoussis. The same will happen in the future, with people suporting Tsitsipas, De Miñaur, Medvedev and company.

Back in the days you refer to, there were also superstars like Sampras and Agassi. They were challenged and overtaken by Safin, Hewitt, Federer. Along came Rafa, later Novak, Andy... Then Stan for a brief period. But that generation has no ATGs challenging them.

As I wrote, there is ONE player under 32 years of age with a slam title... That's terrible for tennis.

EDIT: 2 players under 32, as corrected by Mainad.
 
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Mainad

Bionic Poster
Back in the days you refer to, there were also superstars like Sampras and Agassi. They were challenged and overtaken by Safin, Hewitt, Federer. Along came Rafa, later Novak, Andy... Then Stan for a brief period. But that generation has no ATGs challenging them.

As I wrote, there is ONE player under 32 years of age with a slam title... That's terrible for tennis.

Make that two, Del Potro and Cilic (neither will turn 32 until September). Still not good for tennis.
 

junior74

Bionic Poster
No problem (I get corrected plenty of times). :)

More than a decade ago now. Hard to believe how quickly time can fly! :oops:

I can't imagine how disappointed Juan Martin must feel, winning a slam at 20 and then getting all those injury problems.

I just checked: He has missed 20 slams because of injury. Twenty...
 

tennis_pro

Bionic Poster
Rafa has beaten US Open champions in all 4 of his US Open title runs :)
xxxxDDDDD

You mean a pre-prime tired Djokovic who scored his first top 10 win of the season in the round before, a tired Del Potro with no backhand and an out of form Cilic?

Verdasco, Youzhny, Robredo, Gasquet, Rublev, Anderson, Schwartzman, Berrettini, Medvedev - these are the guys he beat in the QF, SF and F of his US Opens LMAO.
 

King No1e

G.O.A.T.
He couldn’t beat Mager
Nadal couldn't beat Zeballos in 2013.
Djokovic couldn't beat Karlovic in 2015.
Federer couldn't beat Canas (twice) in 2007.

Highly doubt this loss means much for his season. Everyone has inexplicable losses like that. He's been terrible all tournament anyway.
 

junior74

Bionic Poster

Not what I tried to say. I've been watching tennis since the mid 80s. My interest for the game goes well beyond the Swiss Ballerina. He is not even my favourite player, and I really didn't like him when he came along and started beating Safin, who was my favourite then. That said, Federer's tennis is special and everyone who's played at a decent level knows how hard it is to play as quickly and accurately like he does at his best.

Cheers.
 
The whole "tennis/goat debate is boring" thing has only started since Federer fans started panicking that his records would be eclipsed.

Don't panic. It will all be over in a couple of years -one way or another.
 

BeatlesFan

Bionic Poster
Tennis is bigger than the Big 3 and will never die.

There were tennis fans before the Big 3. People supported players like Hewitt, Roddick, Ferrero, Philipoussis.
That's because when they were playing, you still have viable superstars like Pete, Agassi and Fed playing. You had people supporting Nystrom, Tim Mayotte and Anders Jarryd in the 80's, but the sport still revolved 95% around Mac, Lendl, Becker, Edberg and Wilander.

Tennis will become irrelevant and drop massively in revenue and interest if someone with charisma and a great game doesn't come along after Djoker-Nadal hang it up. If you expect Tsitispas, Medvedev and Felix to carry the tour, it's not happening. The sport will not vanish, but it won't be televised except for the majors. It's essential to have players that people get excited about and none of the youngsters have that. None.
 
Not what I tried to say. I've been watching tennis since the mid 80s. My interest for the game goes well beyond the Swiss Ballerina. He is not even my favourite player, and I really didn't like him when he came along and started beating Safin, who was my favourite then. That said, Federer's tennis is special and everyone who's played at a decent level knows how hard it is to play as quickly and accurately like he does at his best.

Cheers.
Take away big 3 and we would have more competitive eras like before. That will be reality soon enough so enjoy while it lasts.
 

van_Loederen

Professional
there is a risk that tennis will get too boring when Djodal retire. if f.i. Shapovalov steps it up, then tennis will be safe, but there are also many boring players possible.

currently tennis is extremely exciting though. Djodal were both pushed to 5 in their most recent Slam finals.
only the butthurt Feder fans are complaining.
 

Subway Tennis

G.O.A.T.
there is a risk that tennis will get too boring when Djodal retire. if f.i. Shapovalov steps it up, then tennis will be safe, but there are also many boring players possible.

currently tennis is extremely exciting though. Djodal were both pushed to 5 in their most recent Slam finals.
only the butthurt Feder fans are complaining.

Exactly. It is a very good time to be a tennis fan at the moment. History being written on both tours.

If you are a fan of the ATG arms race you can enjoy that on the ATP, and the WTA is the best it's been in decades with a mixture of Serena chasing immortality and a new ruling class of 5-6 ATGS all starting their careers at the same time with an absurd depth of competition.

There are also more avenues to enjoy the sport now - going to tourneys has never been more accessible, or you can sit at home on the couch and watch it in high definition via subscription for next to nothing, or free to air television. The information age has also done it's part. The world is a lot smaller now, and following a truly global game like tennis is much easier and more convenient now than it has ever been.
 
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Mike Sams

G.O.A.T.
I wish you were wrong, but you’re dead on
Yup. to beat an in-form Nadal at Phillip Chatrier at RG, you can't sit several feet behind the baseline and whack the fuzz off the ball. That's not going to work. Thiem can't play any other way. It's just a draining mental and physical effort. It works much better on hardcourts. On clay at RG, it's just insanely tough against a Nadal in a final or SF when he's fully in form.
 

EllieK

Hall of Fame
I can't imagine how disappointed Juan Martin must feel, winning a slam at 20 and then getting all those injury problems.

I just checked: He has missed 20 slams because of injury. Twenty...
We could possibly have had another multiple slam winner. I’d like to see him come back and win another.
 
Personally, I don't think the sport is dying. It's just a lot more Professional than it has ever been. The focus is no primarily about "Money". Many elite players see their involvement in the sport as mainly their "Job". It's all about milking the sport for as much money as possible while they are playing at a high level. Tournament prize-money, player endorsements, sponsorships etc. etc.

The sport is much more "Entertainment" focused now. Tennis is no different to most other big sports in that manner - except that it is much less Team focused than many of the other huge Professional sports around the world.

It would be interesting to see the impact on the sport if the Four Major Tournaments (ie. "The Slams" - I hate that expression by yet another example of the way Professionalism has changed the sport) did not have any Prize Money. Players simply played those four tournaments for the "Glory" of the sport and the Title. Of course, that will never happen.

Perhaps we need to see more Team based events through the year to soften the whole thing a bit. But I don't think that is going to happen. Too hard to regulate in the overall scheme of things.
 

Pablo1989

Hall of Fame
Yes, because tennis is dying. The level is low, and no player younger than Novak/ Andy has had impact.

1 slam champion below 32: Cilic, 1 slam. That's all... Unreal and truly a catastrophe for tennis.
That's not true.

The level is better than ever, the audience rates are better than ever, etc.

Would you prefer each GS were won by different players every year as in the WTA tour?


Tennis is bigger than the Big 3 and will never die.

There were tennis fans before the Big 3. People supported players like Hewitt, Roddick, Ferrero, Philipoussis. The same will happen in the future, with people suporting Tsitsipas, De Miñaur, Medvedev and company.
People who said "tennis is dying" don't like tennis, they're only glory hunters.
 

Steve0904

Talk Tennis Guru
The new kids are just too vanilla. Very cookie cutter styles. The sameness is very boring. Being honest, we're all pretty sure Nadal will at least tie Fed in slams this year and surpass that at some point in 2021 or whenever he does it, but I don't want this post to be about that. What I want is for a young kid or two or 3 to break through, and I don't care when it is. I don't care if it happens after Nadal has 25 slams, but Fed is fading and I've seen Nadal and Djokovic forever.

But like I said, aside from the slam race, the kids are just boring and there's not a lot of consistency there. Who here actually enjoys watching Zverev or Medvedev, or watching them play each other? Even Thiem who is probably the best of them all at this point is also the oldest and doesn't exactly inspire anyone that he'll be great. And that doesn't even count the Raonic's, Nishikori's and Dimitrov's of the world who are officially well past it in terms of being slam contenders. Who else is there? Tsitsipas, Shapo, FAA? I mean, maybe they'll all amount to something, but waiting on them just because modern medicine has allowed the Big 3 to all play until 40 is ridiculously frustrating. And I don't think the Big 3 are all "too good" at this point. That's a cop out to me because if you look at a guy like Raonic for example, you could see he was never going to be a superstar because he can't move. Things were obvious before the Big 3 all took his lunch money, same with Nishikori and Dimitrov. Ultimately, we've gone 2-3 whole generations of players without finding a legit superstar, and that's never really happened before in tennis and it's sad.

It's sad because other sports are loaded with talent right now. The NFL's most exciting team just won the SB with a superstar QB. Plus there's Lamar Jackson. The NFL is in great hands post Tom Brady.

In the NHL, there was Crosby and Ovi. Now there's McDavid, McKinnon, Matthews, Eichel etc....

The NBA is full of talent as is the MLB. In tennis, that doesn't truly exist right now.
 

TearTheRoofOff

G.O.A.T.
That's not true.

The level is better than ever, the audience rates are better than ever, etc.

Would you prefer each GS were won by different players every year as in the WTA tour?



People who said "tennis is dying" don't like tennis, they're only glory hunters.
It would be nice to be more of a glory hunter; I could simply ride that 200mph Djokovic bandwagon straight into the crack pile. Alas, I'm sat here in a ditch with what little remains of all court tennis wondering wtf happened.
 

duaneeo

Legend
Those who find it boring are the ones whose favorite is likely on the losing end.

Those who find it interesting are the ones whose favorite is on the losing end...and has been his entire career.

But keep hope alive. The lost generations are helping your cause.
 

Pablo1989

Hall of Fame
I work in tennis. I attend board with other coaches.
The tennis environment is not happy. Kids aren't playing tennis, and the players are as old as their parents. Not good.

Glory hunters? Sure.
That happens too in the king of sports: football.

My explanation: There have never been as many entertainment options for young people as today.
 

junior74

Bionic Poster
That happens too in the king of sports: football.

My explanation: There have never been as many entertainment options for young people as today.

Kids today are used to instant gratification and don't have the patience it takes to master tennis. Most kids become a '4.0' in football after playing for fun at school or with friends. Not the case in tennis.
 

Stein

New User
After Agassi and Sampras stopped we also thought it would never be that great again. New players will rise and fall. :cool:
 
Until the tennis boom of the 70's competitive tennis had been a sport played at small clubs and followed by a few fans. Then it exploded with big stadiums, places to see and be seen. You can gauge the decline in participation by youth to the advent of video games and the legalization of pot. Tennis is just too difficult to learn and play well especially if you're stoned. It was also a sport you played and learned as a family--now that the nuclear family is a thing of the past, that's another reason for its decline.
 
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