PRO TENNIS....FOR RICH KIDS ONLY?

[Spanglish72]

The Volvo Open has 2 women in the main draw who's fathers are billionaires...Jessie Pegula & Emma Navarro.

Can kids from poor or working class families make it to the pro level anymore?

Is there any pro in the last 10 years who's not from a rich family or who got a big sponsor to help them get to the top?

Tiafoe maybe (but he received free coaching and help because his Dad worked at a tennis facility).

What is the USTA doing to address this inequality?

 

[3lite]

Affirmative action.

 

[Sudacafan]

Donald Trump IV

 

[MasturB]

fedr...

 

[Noletheking]

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.

 

[Tshooter]

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 ?

 

[Deleted member 688153]

Racquets aren't that expensive, it's the flying and accommodation that would get you. You need either money or sponsorship.

 

[Wander]

Naomi Osaka, Jerzy Janowicz

 

[Noletheking]

Racquets aren't that expensive, it's the flying and accommodation that would get you. You need either money or sponsorship.

May be not for westerner but it's for people in third world countries.

 

[Dondon]

Kei sponsored by jal
Free air travel

 

[Sudacafan]

When I look at some righteous mother who demands apologies, I immediately turn into a selfish plutocrat.
I only want Gulbises on tour.

 

[ollinger]

What is the USTA doing to address this inequality?

If the USTA helps make RECREATIONAL tennis available to all, and it does have some programs of that type, that's fine with me. I don't consider it a USTA mission to get the poor up to tour level. It would be similarly silly to complain that many top colleges have financial aid programs to help low income people achieve some success in life, but if they don't elevate them to Nobel Prize status, they've somehow failed.

 

[Hmgraphite1]

, western people would never understand these difficulties.

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.

 

[texasleaguer]

If the USTA helps make RECREATIONAL tennis available to all, and it does have some programs of that type, that's fine with me. I don't consider it a USTA mission to get the poor up to tour level. It would be similarly silly to complain that many top colleges have financial aid programs to help low income people achieve some success in life, but if they don't elevate them to Nobel Prize status, they've somehow failed.

bad example using a college reference. According to the news, it seems that colleges require large bribes just to make students students.

 

[Noletheking]

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.

I don't think they are same but you're too naive if you think lower middle class and lower class of both world are equal.

 

[TopspintheTerrible]

When I look at some righteous mother who demands apologies, I immediately turn into a selfish plutocrat.
I only want Gulbises on tour.

I enjoyed hearing him rant to the umpire how embarrassed he would feel to kick a player’s team out of their seats.

Respect.

 

[EloQuent]

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?

 

[TopspintheTerrible]

The Volvo Open has 2 women in the main draw who's fathers are billionaires...Jessie Pegula & Emma Navarro.

Can kids from poor or working class families make it to the pro level anymore?

Is there any pro in the last 10 years who's not from a rich family or who got a big sponsor to help them get to the top?

Tiafoe maybe (but he received free coaching and help because his Dad worked at a tennis facility).

What is the USTA doing to address this inequality?

I didn’t think Shapo, FAA, Hurkacz, Tsitsipas, etc. all had trust funds... maybe I got my info wrong.


And when I played Juniors, some of the top ranked kids in my section came from a pretty rough inner city area.

 

[sureshs]

Tennis is for affluent and cultured people with sophisticated tastes. Let us not allow the hoi polloi to ruin that. Keep the riff raff out.

 

[Sudacafan]

Tennis is for affluent and cultured people with sophisticated tastes. Let us not allow the hoi polloi to ruin that. Keep the riff raff out.

How much “the facilitating payment” would be to have my sons enter in the best tennis academy available?

 

[graycrait]

There are simply too few tennis opportunities for the masses, not an indictment, just a fact. I live in a fast growing town of 170,000 people with 8 public tennis courts, 4 of which are essentially unplayable. 4 of the local universities outdoor courts are nearly unplayable. Although the university courts are open to anyone as well so we have 8 good courts in town, plus 4 indoor uni courts that require a nominal membership for non-uni students along with an hourly fee. The lights on the decent 8 outdoor courts is a joke so no effective night time practice although there is a group of diehards who form night leagues in the summer. There are not enough adults who play tennis who are willing or able to give time to newcomers to the game. 6 of 7 high schools have tennis courts, most are closed to the public. Each high school has something called a tennis coach but I don't think even one could be classified as a solid 3.0 player. These coaches drive the kids to matches and unlock the latch to the court gate. I think 5 of 6 coaches are non-players. There is no mechanism or resources to make tennis a viable alternative to soccer, American football, basketball and baseball.

I think it is simply a supply and demand thing. No demand, no supply.

 

[EloQuent]

The common thing with a lot of successful young players is having a parent coach or otherwise some special exposure to the sport.

 

[Sport]

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.

Let's face it: Indians ain't good at tennis. But they do produce talent in other competitions. India is right now the country which produces more child prodigies in chess.

Check it out this list:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_prodigy

There are 3 Indians among the 6 younger chess grandmasters ever.

 

[Hmgraphite1]

I don't think they are same but you're too naive if you think lower middle class and lower class of both world are equal.

Never made that claim, just your poor choice of words

 

[TopspintheTerrible]

Tennis is for affluent and cultured people with sophisticated tastes. Let us not allow the hoi polloi to ruin that. Keep the riff raff out.

I drink Macallan 25 on changeovers. Gatorade is for troglodytes.

 

[Noletheking]

Never made that claim, just your poor choice of words

You made a very ignorant assumption that I corrected.

 

[Noletheking]

Let's face it: Indians ain't good at tennis. But they do produce talent in other competitions. India is right now the country which produces more child prodigies in chess.

Check it out this list:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_prodigy

There are 3 Indians among the 6 younger chess grandmasters ever.

Let's be honest we already had a player Vijay Amritraj who was a top 10 player in singles and played wim semifinal. Thing is we don't have any infrastructure in any sports except cricket . We are a over a billion but we have just a single football academy. Here it's an elite game and all players playing tennis are super rich kids from well off family. You can't say if a country is good at any sport if that country doesn't have good infrastructure and big pool of players to select from.your example of chess was very bad since it doesn't require any investment and is not a costly sport.

 

[rovex]

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?

I thought djokovic’s parents ran a restaurant. Restaurants make good money.

 

[sureshs]

How much “the facilitating payment” would be to have my sons enter in the best tennis academy available?

A $500K donation for the new gym will be sufficient

 

[sureshs]

I thought djokovic’s parents ran a restaurant. Restaurants make good money.

He was talking about the war situation. Yes, compared to others, they were well-off, but the war disrupted their lives.

 

[Noletheking]

A $500K donation for the new gym will be sufficient

Suresh brah. Make 'Nadal win win fo 2019'

 

[tennisenthusiast]

I don't understand why private coaches charge $100 per hour for private coaching. It's ridiculous.

 

[rovex]

Let's be honest we already had a player Vijay Amritraj who was a top 10 player in singles and played wim semifinal. Thing is we don't have any infrastructure in any sports except cricket . We are a over a billion but we have just a single football academy. Here it's an elite game and all players playing tennis are super rich kids from well off family. You can't say if a country is good at any sport if that country doesn't have good infrastructure and big pool of players to select from.your example of chess was very bad since it doesn't require any investment and is not a costly sport.

The weak value of the indian rupee means an indian has to earn even more to support themselves financially in a western country.

 

[Noletheking]

I don't understand why private coaches charge $100 per hour for private coaching. It's ridiculous.

May be they know that Parents have money?

 

[sureshs]

Let's face it: Indians ain't good at tennis.

Ramanathan Krishnan
Premjit Lal (whom Laver called Prem and who almost took out Laver in 1969 at Wimbledon)
Ramesh Krishnan
Vijay Amritraj and his brothers Ashok and Anand
Leander Paes
Mahesh Bhupathi
Sania Mirza
Somdev Devvarman
Yuki Bhambri and his sisters
Ramkumar Ramanathan
Gunneswaran

 

[sureshs]

The weak value of the indian rupee means an indian has to earn even more to support themselves financially in a western country.

But the Indian federation also shells out money for coaching and living expenses abroad to some players. It is not as bad as it sounds.

 

[Noletheking]

The weak value of the indian rupee means an indian has to earn even more to support themselves financially in a western country.

That's another good point you made . A middle class can't send his kids to abroad for junior level matches and training that is required to be an elite tennis players.here anyone earning 1k usd per month is considered a very good salary and 80% of population earn less that that. Even ones who earn 2k USD salary can't provide their kids with everything that is required to be an elite tennis players. Whatever tennis players we have today like Prakash Amritraj, Devverman ,they all lived in the us and took training and come from a very well off family.

 

[Noletheking]

Ramanathan Krishnan
Premjit Lal (whom Laver called Prem and who almost took out Laver in 1969 at Wimbledon)
Ramesh Krishnan
Vijay Amritraj and his brothers Ashok and Anand
Prakash Amritraj
Stephen Amritraj
Leander Paes
Mahesh Bhupathi
Sania Mirza
Yuki Bhambri and his sisters
Ramkumar Ramanathan
Gunneswaran

I think he was only referring to single and sadly in singles only Vijay can claim to be a top tennis player. And please don't club names like Sania Mirza ,Bhambari etc with VIjay, thanks.

 

[EloQuent]

I thought djokovic’s parents ran a restaurant. Restaurants make good money.

I can't find reference to a restaurant, only a "fast food parlor" which hardly implies wealth.

 

[Noletheking]

But the Indian federation also shells out money for coaching and living expenses abroad to some players. It is not as bad as it sounds.

Shell out money when players are already 20+ it's of no use when they are not provided with world class coaching while growing up and it costs a lot.

 

[sureshs]

I think he was only referring to single and sadly in singles only Vijay can claim to be a top tennis player. And please don't club names like Sania Mirza ,Bhambari etc with VIjay, thanks.

Why not? Sania Mirza was pioneering in her own right.

Ramanathan Krishnan was once ranked informally at #3. Ramesh had a career high of #21.

 

[sureshs]

Shell out money when players are already 20+ it's of no use when they are not provided with world class coaching while growing up and it costs a lot.

In the US too no one provides world class coaching when growing up. Only highly successful junior players get selected by the USTA for assistance. Other kids' parents spend a small fortune on tennis on their own money.

 

[Noletheking]

Why not? Sania Mirza was pioneering in her own right.

Ramanathan Krishnan was once ranked informally at #3. Ramesh had a career high of #21.

I'm talking about official ranking and performance in single slam and Sania Mirza doesn't deserve to be named ALONGSIDE Vijay . She has done nothing in singles. It's like putting Brayan bros with Fedalovic.

 

[Noletheking]

In the US too no one provides world class coaching when growing up. Only highly successful junior players get selected by the USTA for assistance. Other kids' parents spend a small fortune on tennis on their own money.

In the us noone provides but an average middle class and lower middle class American family is on equal footing with their indian counter part right genius? Also, tennis facilities in the us are far better .

 

[sureshs]

I'm talking about official ranking and performance in single slam and Sania Mirza doesn't deserve to be named ALONGSIDE Vijay . She has done nothing in singles. It's like putting Brayan bros with Fedalovic.

No it isn't. Sania was #30 in singles I think. Moreover, there are other factors. Navratilova is not just about tennis, for example.

 

[tennisenthusiast]

Why not? Sania Mirza was pioneering in her own right.

Ramanathan Krishnan was once ranked informally at #3. Ramesh had a career high of #21.

I think he is referring singles player. I wouldn't consider Sania a singles player. Of course at one time she was as high as 30?

 

[Noletheking]

No it isn't. Sania was #30 in singles I think. Moreover, there are other factors. Navratilova is not just about tennis, for example.

30 and top 10 is same? What has she done in single at slams? Thank you.

 

[sureshs]

In the us noone provides but an average middle class and lower middle class American family is on equal footing with their indian counter part right genius? Also, tennis facilities in the us are far better .

In most countries, middle class has to struggle for tennis. And even with that, there is no guarantee.

 

[tennisenthusiast]

All Sania got is a killer forehand but she never worked on other parts of her game which is sad. She focused mainly on doubles.

 

[sureshs]

I think he is referring singles player. I wouldn't consider Sania a singles player. Of course at one time she was as high as 30?

Yeah a ranking of #30 is not good for a singles player? Tell that to the thousands who can never make it there.