PRO TENNIS....FOR RICH KIDS ONLY?

The good book got it wrong.

It isn't easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to become a pro tennis player.
 
Tshooter said:
The Volvo Open has 56 women in the main draw and 32 in qualies. Of the 88 only two come from Billionaire families.

Can kids from a hyper-wealthy background make it to the pro level anymore ? What is the USTA doing to address this situation ?
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I guess they lack the hunger to succeed.
 
Exposure gets you recognized, and to have exposure you have to be in the places that can contribute to this like national tournaments, working with top level coaches and training centers. How can talent be recognized if that kid is stuck with no means to get to those places that only money and wealth can get?

Tennis unfortunately will always be a rich person's sport I hate to say. Money can't buy a champion but the road to success will be a lot easier to achieve for sure.
 
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Noletheking said:
It has been a rich kids sport in India forever. Here 90% of population can't afford to train their kids as tennis player. Still, people complain about our country not producing enough talents. One of the reason I support Djokovic is because he came from a humble background and had to deal with lots of difficulties , western people would never understand these difficulties. Novak Djokovic is the greatest story ever in tennis.
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Do you think Novak is really a positive example for this? His family invested all their money into novak's career quite early. It worked out in the end but without hindsight it was still a stupid decision, one injury or some bad luck and they could have ended up with nothing.

The Novak example is certainly not a good example for equal chances unless hundreds of poor parents decide to put all their eggs into one basket for a one in 1000 chance that their kid becomes a top100 player.
 
TopspintheTerrible said:
Money doesn’t buy a 135mph serve. Or brilliant court vision. Or touch. Or Nadal’s forehand. Or Joker’s backhand.
Or 20 Grand Slams.

You’re neglecting too many other variables which are infinitely more important than economic background.
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Talent is the most important factor of course. You can easily see that with the Djokovics, all 3 brothers got about the same training but only one got good. Great training is by no means a guarantee. However that doesn't work vice versa, this training is needed to have a chance, even Nadal doesn't win slams without 10000s of training hours and countless tournaments.
 
Spanglish72 said:
So next time you see that Pro playing please realize they aren't as great as you think. Their parents being well off had a lot to do with them getting to where they are today.
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The problem with this statement, "they aren't as great as you think", has no merit, it's based on absolutely nothing, "as great", what? What are you referring to?
To speculate, like you, I would say, "they", "the rich, lucky, selected few" are the only ones that would have made it anyway.
Of course this isn't completely true but it's as accurate as what your inferring.
You see even though some could be greats aren't making it, no need to tear down the ones that are.imo
 
Williams Sisters, Frances Tiafoe, Stevie Johnson, Nick Kyrgios among others grow up either poor to middle class!
 
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Of the top tennis player backgrounds that I know. Fed is upper middle class like a lot of Swiss, parents met at a business trip for a pharma company. Nadal comes from a rich family, businessman dad with multiple companies and real estate holdings. Wawrinka rich I think, his mother is a major landowner and the farm that Stan grew up on looks immaculate. Djoker prob upper mid for serbs. His parents owned a restaurant, forked over money for training.

The money in tennis is obv. If this was a soccer list you'd be more seeing poor, working class, lower mid.
 
Hmgraphite1 said:
Seems non western people think all western people are the same. Wonder why they would think this, what about their surroundings make them think this.
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Didn’t you know that ALL western people are rich and privileged ??? And when I say all I mean 100% not 99%.

It’s been proven that even if a western baby is born POOR, within 20 days of their birth they can accumulate vast amounts of money !!! Don’t know how they do it.
 
dominikk1985 said:
Do you think Novak is really a positive example for this? His family invested all their money into novak's career quite early. It worked out in the end but without hindsight it was still a stupid decision, one injury or some bad luck and they could have ended up with nothing.

The Novak example is certainly not a good example for equal chances unless hundreds of poor parents decide to put all their eggs into one basket for a one in 1000 chance that their kid becomes a top100 player.
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Good question for every Novak djokovic story there are 1000 failure stories that doesn't come out. Still, Djokovic story is greatest story ever in tennis.
 
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EloQuent said:
hmm let's see... Fedr and Nadal come from upper middle class backgrounds (maybe Nadal a bit more but hardly billionaires). Novak from disadvantaged background. Williams sisters and Osaka come from nothing. Tiafoe, Shapo, FA2 all kids of immigrants and refugees.

You were saying?
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You don't have to be a billionaire to be considered wealthy. Children of elites at the level that you talk about don't pursue careers in mass practiced professional sports. You''ll get a rare one like sea gull forehand, but Nadal level backgrounds spread around your top athletes would mean its a rich kid sport.
 
I don't think that you need to be rich to make it in tennis, middle class is probably good enough. Because in today's information era if you are middle class you have enough money and connections for someone to notice you.
 
JackGates said:
I don't think that you need to be rich to make it in tennis, middle class is probably good enough. Because in today's information era if you are middle class you have enough money and connections for someone to notice you.
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Do you even understand how much it costs to travel from tournament to tournament within US, let alone around world? Let alone coaching costs?
 
Noletheking said:
It has been a rich kids sport in India forever. Here 90% of population can't afford to train their kids as tennis player. Still, people complain about our country not producing enough talents. One of the reason I support Djokovic is because he came from a humble background and had to deal with lots of difficulties , western people would never understand these difficulties. Novak Djokovic is the greatest story ever in tennis.
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What do you mean when you say he came from a humble background?
 
I have before "brah".... his dad was a pro skier, then became an instructor and restaurant owner who put Novak before the rest of his family... he was able to easily afford trips to foreign academies and whatnot... so how is that humbling "brah"?
 
Harry_Wild said:
Williams Sisters, Frances Tiafoe, Stevie Johnson, Nick Kyrgios among others grow up either poor to middle class!
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This is not middle class:

His father, Steve Johnson Sr (died in his sleep 11 May 2017 aged 58), was a tennis coach at the Rancho San Clemente Tennis and Fitness Club, and his mother, Michelle, is a math professor. His older sister, Alison, is a graduate of Sonoma State University.
 
TnsGuru said:
Exposure gets you recognized, and to have exposure you have to be in the places that can contribute to this like national tournaments, working with top level coaches and training centers. How can talent be recognized if that kid is stuck with no means to get to those places that only money and wealth can get?

Tennis unfortunately will always be a rich person's sport I hate to say. Money can't buy a champion but the road to success will be a lot easier to achieve for sure.
Click to expand...

Kids who come from less fortunate backgrounds who dominate their USTA section get noticed. If they’re really that talented, the club pros, tournament directors or parents of other players will usually lend a helping hand.
 
TopspintheTerrible said:
Kids who come from less fortunate backgrounds who dominate their USTA section get unoticed. If they’re really that talented, the club pros, tournament directors or parents of other players will usually lend a helping hand.
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How do you dominate your section if you can't afford to get enough lessons, court time or travel to tourneys??

99% of club directors & pros only care about making $$$$$.

The rich kids have the edge up from the 10U's. That edge only grows every year from 12U thr 16U. By 18U only the rich are still playing because the less fortunate could not keep up & fall to the way side.

Go to a USTA tourney in your area, The parking lot will look like an AUDI & BMW showroom.

99% of pro players came from a privileged background.

The only ones I can think of that didn't are Serena & Venus (Rick Macci took them in) & Tiafoe (Dad worked at a tennis facility).

Fed, Nadal, Djoker are all at least upper middle class or higher.
 
TnsGuru said:
Exposure gets you recognized, and to have exposure you have to be in the places that can contribute to this like national tournaments, working with top level coaches and training centers. How can talent be recognized if that kid is stuck with no means to get to those places that only money and wealth can get?

Tennis unfortunately will always be a rich person's sport I hate to say. Money can't buy a champion but the road to success will be a lot easier to achieve for sure.
Click to expand...

EXACTLY!
 
TopspintheTerrible said:
Kids who come from less fortunate backgrounds who dominate their USTA section get noticed. If they’re really that talented, the club pros, tournament directors or parents of other players will usually lend a helping hand.
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Yea, there is no way that club pros or those managing it help out... I did have a great tournament director that would help me out growing up, but that was about all the help I would get apart from my high school coach taking me to his club to play doubles and on rare occasions singles matches, but he had to pay a guest fee for me when those in charge were around. They do only care for the money, like Spanglish72 said.
Now, I can see an exception or two, but to say that they will "usually lend a helping hand" is fake news 100%. I never had parents involved (started tennis summer before freshmen year, varsity from the start, top ten in my city by the end of my senior year), so I was blessed that my coach took me under his wing and gave me extra practice every other weekend with some great players (usually club pros). But I never heard of anyone else trying to help me out or others in a similar position as I was.
 
Don’t have to have a rich family if you live in a country with a rich tennis organisation like the LTA; quite a few players like Dan Evans from normal backgrounds have had financial backing.
 
billions ppl happily enjoy walking jogging for daily exercise n no one complaining spending time/efforts/$ not being able to power walk or run in olympic; mil. ppl happily enjoy badminton/pingpong for fun n fit, no one complaining spending time/efforts/$$ not being able to compete in top level tournaments as while general public having fun fit etc the talent 1s won't hide n got pkup for further training/tournaments. tennis seems screwed up 000s tennis players/parents w/ extremely high tension. they'r complaining so loud abt time/effort/$$$ wasted n well injured n labeled tennis 'rich kids sport' blablabla..................after 99.99% fell short from the pro circuit, lololol.......funny.

soon tennis 'players' will hit 100 mil mark worldwide n can we relax bit n enjoy this wonderful addictive sport which can keep 'players' mentally/physically fit/young farfarfar away from doc/hospital/med etcetcetc:?))) meanwhile a few talented 1s enjoy their yummy slammy, actually they don't mind all sorts of injuries at all, w/ their $$$$.....$$$ to backup all sorts of surgeries......lolololol manohman:)))))
 
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eman11 said:
Yea, there is no way that club pros or those managing it help out... I did have a great tournament director that would help me out growing up, but that was about all the help I would get apart from my high school coach taking me to his club to play doubles and on rare occasions singles matches, but he had to pay a guest fee for me when those in charge were around. They do only care for the money, like Spanglish72 said.
Now, I can see an exception or two, but to say that they will "usually lend a helping hand" is fake news 100%. I never had parents involved (started tennis summer before freshmen year, varsity from the start, top ten in my city by the end of my senior year), so I was blessed that my coach took me under his wing and gave me extra practice every other weekend with some great players (usually club pros). But I never heard of anyone else trying to help me out or others in a similar position as I was.
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Nah it’s really not fake news. When you see the same players every week at tourneys, the parents tend to get to know each other. I had a friend who played Nationals who came from a fortunate background. His parents would always take another player who was not as well off with them to Nationals and pay for the travel expenses and lodging.

I don’t mean that they are going to lend a helping hand to a player who loses in the 2nd round. But if he/she is winning tournaments regularly and it’s obvious the only reason they’re not playing Nationally is due to finances, there’s a decent chance somebody will help out.

You started playing tennis at 15. I’m talking about kids who have been playing since they’re 6, possibly home schooled and are ranked #1 in their section. No offense, but it doesn’t seem you fit in that category. So it’s not all that surprising when you say nobody helped you out.
 
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Spanglish72 said:
How do you dominate your section if you can't afford to get enough lessons, court time or travel to tourneys??

99% of club directors & pros only care about making $$$$$.

The rich kids have the edge up from the 10U's. That edge only grows every year from 12U thr 16U. By 18U only the rich are still playing because the less fortunate could not keep up & fall to the way side.

Go to a USTA tourney in your area, The parking lot will look like an AUDI & BMW showroom.

99% of pro players came from a privileged background.

The only ones I can think of that didn't are Serena & Venus (Rick Macci took them in) & Tiafoe (Dad worked at a tennis facility).

Fed, Nadal, Djoker are all at least upper middle class or higher.
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Yea, Djokovic was upper middle class. :oops: I can see your mind is made up, so no real point in going back n forth anymore.

From an article about Joker’s childhood:

He and Ana Ivanovic, who along with Jelena Jankovic remarkably put Serbian tennis on the map after the Balkan conflicts, would sometimes have to disappear into a bomb shelter when their practice in an empty swimming pool, which had been turned into a makeshift tennis court, was alarmingly interrupted.
Djokovic can remember the menacing drone of the low-flying bombers drowning out the renditions of “Happy Birthday to You” when he turned 12. Episodes like that build character. “All of us who went through that came out with their spirit stronger,” he once said. “Now we appreciate the value of life. We know how it feels to be living in 60 square metres being bombed.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/t...war-behind-him-to-become-a-national-icon.html
 
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TopspintheTerrible said:
Yea, Djokovic was upper middle class. :oops: I can see your mind is made up, so no real point in going back n forth anymore.

From an article about Joker’s childhood:

He and Ana Ivanovic, who along with Jelena Jankovic remarkably put Serbian tennis on the map after the Balkan conflicts, would sometimes have to disappear into a bomb shelter when their practice in an empty swimming pool, which had been turned into a makeshift tennis court, was alarmingly interrupted.
Djokovic can remember the menacing drone of the low-flying bombers drowning out the renditions of “Happy Birthday to You” when he turned 12. Episodes like that build character. “All of us who went through that came out with their spirit stronger,” he once said. “Now we appreciate the value of life. We know how it feels to be living in 60 square metres being bombed.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/t...war-behind-him-to-become-a-national-icon.html
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You left out the part right after this period, where Nole went to Germany to train full time at a former top 50 players tennis academy.

Either his parents were rich or he got a free scholarship to play there, who knows which it was?

Most kids don't get that kind of help & that is why they can't make it to the pro level.
 
Spanglish72 said:
You left out the part right after this period, where Nole went to Germany to train full time at a former top 50 players tennis academy.

Either his parents were rich or he got a scholarship to play there.

Most kids don't get that kind of help & that is why they can't make it to the pro level.
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I think it was either a scholarship or helped by pros. But it was because he showed promise. Kids who show that kind promise, do grt help. It's the potential journeymen who don't make it.
 
EloQuent said:
I think it was either a scholarship or helped by pros. But it was because he showed promise. Kids who show that kind promise, do grt help. It's the potential journeymen who don't make it.
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Yes but how did he show promise to get the scholarship in Germany?

He showed promise because he either got good free coaching from his first coach or his parents paid her to help him.

If he didn't receive that initial help from someone he'd still be making pizzas at his family restaurant right now.

Most kids don't get that help at the beginning because they can't afford it.
 
Wander said:
Naomi Osaka, Jerzy Janowicz
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This. Also the greatest woman player ever grew up in Compton.

I think this is like the NBA, if you are great the ATP will find you eventually. Sure you don't get all the training and early advantages but talent is talent. I still think Tennis is mostly an individual game you teach yourself at the end of the day. You go out and serve like you go out and practice shooting a basketball. If more lower income people were interested in tennis then you'd certainly see more of them in the game. The problem is more with the broader appeal of it. I think when Serena broke through it opened up a generation of young black women competing though. Need that on the men side more.
 
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Spanglish72 said:
Yes but how did he show promise to get the scholarship in Germany?

He showed promise because he either got good free coaching from his first coach or his parents paid her to help him.

If he didn't receive that initial help from someone he'd still be making pizzas at his family restaurant right now.
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:-D:-D:-D:-D
 
Also I would say Golf is the "rich mans" game you really do need money to compete in. More need for a coach as well. Even going to a driving range cost and you can't just drive balls at the local park. Green fees and legit equipment is crazy. By comparison tennis looks like an elcheapo sport to me. Couple rackets and balls and find a city court isn't much more than even basketball by the time you figure in the sneakers there.
 
Spanglish72 said:
Yes but how did he show promise to get the scholarship in Germany?

He showed promise because he either got good free coaching from his first coach or his parents paid her to help him.

If he didn't receive that initial help from someone he'd still be making pizzas at his family restaurant right now.

Most kids don't get that help at the beginning because they can't afford it.
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How far are we moving the goal posts?

The premise is that only wealthy kids can succeed. These are poor kids who succeeded based on merit.
 
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