State of the Game

[tennisfreak412]

With the World Cup in full swing, I've been thinking, tennis is really missing out. The World Cup is a singularly incredible event, and one that turns millions, or at least thousands, of non soccer-watchers into rabid fans. I know that I, for one, came into this World Cup thinking, "Eh soccer (I should be calling if football. I start now.) Who needs it. It's boring." However, I now watch every game with rapt attention.

We need something like this for tennis. I know we have the Davis Cup, but it's too spread out to make a real impact on how tennis is perceived around the world. We need some giant country-on-country tournament that takes place not so often, as having it every year completely saps the anticapation. Something like a huge Davis Cup type deal, with countries having to qualify into the tournament, and.. I dunno. I know that it is slightly different, as tennis is an individual tournament, but if we could do this entire thing in ways that are more friendly to casual fans, like World Team Tennis...

I really don't know where I'm going with this, but I thought it'd be cool to see what you guys think. As we all know, tennis is a ridiculously awesome sport, and it's a pity that not everyone is exposed to it. In essence, that's what the World Cup does- thousands, if not millions, of non soccer fans are exposed to some of the greatest players in the game, and really start to like the sport, if only for the time being.

Toss around your ideas here.

 

[exruda]

a few loose comments:

I think soccer is a phenonmenon on it's own; people also massively watch broadcasts from the olympics etc, yet there is no such "mania". And the olympics are held rarely enough .

Football is less of an elite sport than tennis (everyone can play "football", even if the latter is only an old can or something). That way more people can identify with it and find pleasure in watching (especially guys who have all played some ,kind of "football" when they were kids).

A football field is much bigger than a tennis court and and a foot ball is bigger than a tennis ball, so there can be more fans on a stadium all enjoying the match

So although it would be real fun to have a torunament like that for tennis (and Davis Cup is rganized in a similar manner, by the way), I would not see it as succesful...

 

[Jassy_B]

soccer is rly fun to watch especially the world cup .. tennis seems repetitive BUT HAVE U SEEN RONALDHINO MAN THAT guy WAS PWNING 5 WORLD CUP PLAYERS AT ONCE!!!

 

[tennisfreak412]

exruda- you've made some really good points, and I certainly see where you're coming from. I guess that's a downfall of all individual sports, and now that I think of it, the only major individual sports out there are tennis and golf. I don't know if you've been to and Davis Cup ties, but I had the (mis)fortune of being at the Carson, CA, tie with the US and Croatia. The atmosphere was positively electric. Imagine that, multiplied by 10,000. Add a giant, 4 year long buildup, equal footing for the smallest and largest of countries, and a fan base just itching to expand. Stick 64 countries in one country, and play out matches in a Davis Cup (or maybe WTT) format.

And add a little twist.
I know it might be challenging what we diehards feel is the 'integrity' of the game, but take out code violations and the like, and let players get emotional. Let them throw racquets, let them scream, let them break out into the worm (we're still laughing at the one in the States, Radek) and just let them be- for lack of a better word- human. And for the love of god, have electronic line calling- but only with challenges. While we're at it, why not play music during matches (or at least at changeovers)? Pick a neutral surface, like Rebound Ace, so that grinders, serve-and-volley players, attacking baseliners, and whoever else comes along can all play their style.

Once again, I do understand that this cannot be nearly as popular as the World Cup- it's a fact of life that, simply put, people would die for football (figueratively (sp?) speaking). But still, tennis is, I believe, the 4th or 5th most popular sport in the world. (If I'm wrong feel free to yell at me). We should have something more to show than just the 4 majors.

 

[tennisfreak412]

Feel free to toss around ideas.

 

[tennisfreak412]

Jassy- if you think Ronaldinho is something special, check out Wayne Rooney or Leo Messi. They're the real prodigies. Ole!

 

[matty p]

i agree. they should play the Davis Cup all at once in the same country like the World Cup. would make for great viewing. golf already sorta does this with the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup so why doesn't tennis give it a go?