Tennis in your country

[dakels]

I am curious as to the availability of tennis and it's amount of interest in your country or area. I think most or a significant part of the posters here are American, but feel free to talk about your area/state. I know where I live NYC metro area tennis is pretty big with alot of available courts. Doesn't hurt to have the US Open here too. You often see recreational tennis courts get jam packed near US Open time. The city itself has plenty of tennis courts but due to lack of space, courts are often very crowded and indoor courts tend to be expensive, which is often why you tend to see alot more wealthier people with racquets. Suburbs have lots of public tennis courts with a mix of people playing (all races and income levels). I would go on but it's probably not necesary as this area is talked of often.

Please state the area you are from (obviously not your address or anything specific...)

1: Is tennis available for play for most people? Is it mostly a wealthier class club sport or available for everyone with many public no fee or small fee courts?

2: How is tennis viewed socially? Like referred above, is it more exclusive or readily available? Is it popular both pro and recreational interest? Is it easy to find players and leagues/groups?

3: How is tennis development? Do schools have teams and clubs? Pro development?


I am also specifically wondering about Kuwait City as I have a job opportunity there. I am also wondering about the London area as well for the same reason.

 

[Feña14]

I know that this isn't the norm for the whole of England but certainly in my area, Tennis is non existent.

Nobody plays, there are no courts so that's probably why but people just don't want them. I used to have to travel around 40 mins to get to a club and not being able to drive it just became impossible.

In the end I just had to give up, it became frustrating wondering when the next time I would get the chance to play would come. So unfortunately i've had to give up on playing for the time being. I still watch tennis and love the sport but the lack of courts and people of any reasonable ability in my area have made it impossible. In the last year I have played 3 times, the last was backin December and even then it was just with a friend who got bored after 10 minutes and was basically seeing how many balls he could hit over the fence.

I know in London and other area's it's better but that's not much help to me at the moment.

 

[vkartikv]

My views on tennis in India - and I am only talking about the situation upto 2004. I don;t really know what's going on now.

1. Tennis is more like golf - very expensive and gear is not readily available. Tennis takes a backseat to cricket and hockey.

2. There are very few recognised camps/academies - the best known of these being the Amritraj camp. As I mentioned, its a sport for the higher class so it appeals to less than 1% of the population. I'd like to see things improve..

 

[oscar_2424]

In Peru is all about soccer, but there are some places with courts, especially clay courts

 

[Kabob190]

Where i live money is definitely not a problem. The only problem is everyone here think tennis is a "*****" sport. Most people have never played tennis. I wanna go five sets with some of them and see how they like tennis after that. Everyone is more into football(american) or basketball. The courts i play at are a disaster. Cracks everywhere nets ripped and loose. Sad, people treat it like a dumpster, trash everywhere.

 

[raftermania]

Tennis is the #1 Sport in Canada.

 

[oscar_2424]

Tennis is the #1 Sport in Canada.

i always believe it was hockey

 

[pound cat]

i always believe it was hockey

raftermania is just kidding...it's right there after hockey, curling, speed skating, soccer, figure skating, skiiing, snowshoeing, golf, fishing, hunting, log-sawing and ice sculpture, badminton, squash, etc etc.

Thre are a lot of public courts in cities, and lots of private clubs, but there are a lot of wide-open spaces in this country with nothing but trees and wheatfields. ATP masters and WTA tennis are hugely attended and lots of pro tennis is on TV, but there is little or no Can tennis on TV...maybe on the French sports channel. But we see most of the Pro tournaments on TV. (some exec on TSN loves tennis IMO)

Canada just played DC v. Mexico and lost 1-3. (The doubles win was with Dan Nestor, our 1 successful ATP player)

No coaching system for aspiring players that I know of who would have to go to USA and be rich or win a tennis scholarship in some American university.

 

[croatian sensation]

Please state the area you are from (obviously not your address or anything specific...)

1: Is tennis available for play for most people? Is it mostly a wealthier class club sport or available for everyone with many public no fee or small fee courts?

2: How is tennis viewed socially? Like referred above, is it more exclusive or readily available? Is it popular both pro and recreational interest? Is it easy to find players and leagues/groups?

3: How is tennis development? Do schools have teams and clubs? Pro development?

Ok..so, Croatia.

1. No. Tennis is still an upper-class sport. As I have already explained in one thread it simply isn't possible to pay it if you're not at least middle-class. Which would make you able to pay for tennis lessons like twice a week. To pay for your kid's lessons every day, conditioning practice and all the equipment costs a lot..and that you can't afford unless you're wealthy cause you won't get any financial help till your kid wins a junior GS title (ok, I'm exaggerating now..but my point is financial help comes only with very very good results)
Public courts don't exist in Croatia.

2. Same thing..it isn't that popular (at least that started to change after last year)...but there is a slight increase of popularity. Still, only at the ATP level. Challenger tourneys get un-noticed.
About finding players...people still play mostly with people they know off-courts. At least my generation (young people...I'm 21).

3. Schools don't have teams because they don't have any courts to practice on...and nobody wants to pay for trainers and courts (I mean we had to pay for toilet paper every semester in high school!!! So much about money that goes to the education system in Croatia. Schools can't afford toilet paper, let alone tennis courts.)

And, yes we're talking about tennis in the country that has a Wimbledon champion and that has won last year's DC. It's just sad.

 

[peter]

IPlease state the area you are from (obviously not your address or anything specific...)

1: Is tennis available for play for most people? Is it mostly a wealthier class club sport or available for everyone with many public no fee or small fee courts?

2: How is tennis viewed socially? Like referred above, is it more exclusive or readily available? Is it popular both pro and recreational interest? Is it easy to find players and leagues/groups?

3: How is tennis development? Do schools have teams and clubs? Pro development?

Area: Linköping, Östergötland, Sweden, Europe, Earth, Sol System, The Milky Way, Local Group, Virgo Supercluster

1. Tennis is available for most people. There are a number of public free courts and a number of reasonably priced tennis clubs (both indoor and outdoor).

2. Tennis is for most people even though other sports like Soccer and Floorball is currently more popular. Pretty easy to find players. The league play is somewhat low currently, but the last years it has slowly started to grow again.

3. Schools have no tennis team (or any other sports for that matter). All development is club centered.

 

[Topaz]

I'm from the metro Washington D.C. area, in Northern Virginia.

1. There are lots of courts, in fact the building I live in has one. There are many free, public courts, but also places where you can reserve courts, both indoor and outdoor, for a fee that varies widely depending on where you are.

2. I'm a teacher, and not 'upper class' by any means. I play as much tennis as I possibly can, but I do have to budget for it, particularly over the winter when we're stuck inside and have to pay court fees. I did join one club that has a yearly fee of $125 (which I thought was pretty good!), but I will probably switch over to the club where I take my drill class, just because it is closer and I'm more familiar with it.

There is a very active USTA league system here, and while the official USTA season is about April to July, we have other leagues that go year round.

3. Most larger schools have teams, and some are quite good and competitive. There are a lot of strong juniors in this area as well.

Overall, this area is getting more and more expensive to live in, and while I think that helps the availability of tennis, it also excludes a lot of people. If I didn't have a great landlord who doesn't raise my rent, I would have had to move away by now.

 

[dakels]

I grew up in northern New Jersey and had excellent sources for all sports. I played hockey, football, soccer, and baseball but tennis was always around and our school had a good girls and boys team. Plenty of public parks too and indoor facilities. I find it really sad that so many kids have to grow up without at least the opportunity to participate in such things. As such I worked a while as a volunteer coach in a inner city youth tennis organization. We had some nationally ranked kids and several who were granted scholorships to good colleges mostly from tennis. I dread to think where they awould be without the tennis program. One kid's father was in prison, mother lost custody of him and his brother due to drug addiction. He got a tennis scholorship, and eventually took that to med school. I wish all kids could get those opportunities but even in the richest nation in the world, it's just not always the case. To hear about other countries is even more depressing.

Anyways it's really nice to hear the feedback about your environments regardless. Keep 'em coming!

 

[PedrosCousin]

Atlanta, GA U.S.A. - Awesome place to live for a tennis player. Courts all over the place. Nice ones. I live about a mile from a city park (in an Atlanta suburb) that has 4 immaculate courts...free to use. Some parks charge a small fee, but depending on when you go, they may not collect. It's super rare that I can't find a place to play for free whenever I want. A lot of neighborhoods have their own courts. (middle class areas will have 2 good courts and the really nice neighborhoods can have tons of courts)

There are all kinds of leagues to play in also (doubles and singles) and no shortage of players at all levels to fill them. The weather is generally mild enough in the winter to play outdoors. I do anyway. There's always an opportunity to play in a league during all seasons of the year.

Many high schools have teams...good ones. Pro development I'm not sure about, that's something I'm far from having to worry about. I'd find it hard to leave here and go somewhere where tennis is less prominent.

 

[Docalex007]

Area: Linköping, Östergötland, Sweden, Europe, Earth, Sol System, The Milky Way, Local Group, Virgo Supercluster

Could you be more specific? I need to know which Universe too you know. I mean c'mon man.

Btw I'm 7000 light years away and all I see is when looking through my telescope is people building giant pyramids in a sandy desert area.


Edit: I would tell you guys how it is here in Deutschland - but I'd rather go eat first and come back.

 

[Gundam]

I've been to Korea

Recently I've been to Korea.
Being a country with limited space and land, the country is filled with high rise apartment buildings (like Condos here in US). Thanks to their success in economy, the cities and towns looked very neat. One thing I noticed during my visit was that each group of those apartments has a tennis court (mostly clay or just earth). In the morning, people (mostly women) would practice with a coach. I saw some ladies in their 40s hitting volley after volley for over a hour. Another thing I noticed that they were very well dressed with good amount of makeup (although early morning). They said it's because of sun.

But where are korean men? Probably at work...

I was told, it's not that popular and still considered a sport for people who can afford it but it seemed much more accessible than golf. I never been to Japan or China though.

 

[pound cat]

I'd be interested in hearing how the system works in China. Is it elitist as it is in most places? Do kids get into the coaching system in the "all in who you know" way as it is in most places?

Anyone have insights?

 

[dakels]

I'd be interested in hearing how the system works in China. Is it elitist as it is in most places? Do kids get into the coaching system in the "all in who you know" way as it is in most places?

Anyone have insights?

I have some friends from China and my ex girlfriend taught english there (even though she is Italian and couldnt speak a lick of Chinese). From what I could garner, there is quite a big division from poverty and rich. Space in cities is small and expensive while more open areas are very very poor and a definite lack of middle class suburbs. I am pretty sure only wealthy people have access to regular tennis through indoor clubs. There seems to be a definite interest in tennis but again, it would appear to be accessible only to the wealthy or near wealthy. It also seems to be a bit of a status symbol sport like golf with most active players coming from expensive tennis club memberships. I think school or public tennis development is basically non-existant with any programs coming from private clubs and private/personal funding. I have never been there though so I'm sure someone can clarify.

I'd like to add though that Asians (from Asia), especially Japanese seem to love playing tennis. I see so many in public courts and private courts. In many cases I will see a majority public court players being immigrated asian/Japanese.

 

[Grigollif1]

Tennis is the #1 Sport in Canada.

Feel sorry for you man! So how are you guys doing in your least popular sport? (Joking) Go Nestor though!

In Brazil, Tennis is more of an an elite sport altough, since Guga it has grown a lot.
I guess you all know what is the number one sport in Brasil is... Hint: We have won the world cup 5 times.

I live in Los Angeles for 5 years and is one of the nicest places, if you enjoy the sport of tennis. Every Public park has at least 4 courts and they are all in prime condition, very well kept. The only thing that I would say is that clay courts are rare to find around here.

 

[glass]

It's more or less a joke status sport in new zealand.

 

[paulfreda]

China tennis

I'd be interested in hearing how the system works in China. Is it elitist as it is in most places? Do kids get into the coaching system in the "all in who you know" way as it is in most places?

Anyone have insights?

My pro in CA told me that he knows that China as a nation has set a goal to be promonent in tennis at the pro level. Like Russia, Spain and Argentina, they want to do well in a sport recognized as a first world sport.
They are hosting the Olympics in 2 years (or is it 6) and want to do well then too.
Note: The Chinese women doubles pair delivered their first Grand Slam title at the AO this January. So it looks like they are serious.

 

[paulfreda]

I live here in Bangkok Thailand and tennis is quite active an available here.
Paradorn Srichaphan has had great success on the ATP and is somewhat of a rock star here. There are numerous men's and women's Challenger events, DC, Fed Cup and the October Mens ATP event and a Women's WTA event.
There are tennis courts all over Bagnkok and many at the large Condo and Service Apt buildings.
Where I play on Soi 38, the courts are booked solid in the prime time hours which avoid the hot sun and humidity of 10am-4pm. Many Japanese families come for lessons, mostly youngsers and women.
Thailand has some 30 players on the men's and women's tours altho few make it to the top 100.
Outside of Bangkok, tennis is much less available but there are courts in most major cities ... just very few.
Thailand just beat Japan in DC play last week.

Cheers

 

[dakels]

My pro in CA told me that he knows that China as a nation has set a goal to be promonent in tennis at the pro level. Like Russia, Spain and Argentina, they want to do well in a sport recognized as a first world sport.
They are hosting the Olympics in 2 years (or is it 6) and want to do well then too.
Note: The Chinese women doubles pair delivered their first Grand Slam title at the AO this January. So it looks like they are serious.

I feel bad for those athletes. From what I know, China has a sport development system much like the old USSR but possibly even more pressure on it's athletes to represent their country well. I'm not too keen on China hosting the Olympics either with their past and current track record of blatently exploiting thier biggest resource, people. I wonder how many backbreaking laborers worked and lost limbs in constructing the olympic facilities for 80 cents a day... But this is a political discussion though and a different topic.

It is interesting to see the different views on the game and success such as Chinese and Russian tennis players often viewing the gold medal to be the pinnacle achievement, whereas Americans generally do not, opting for US Open or Wimbledon.

 

[Kaptain Karl]

I'm in Colorado, over an hour from Denver.

1: Is tennis available for play for most people? Is it mostly a wealthier class club sport or available for everyone with many public no fee or small fee courts?

Yes. Yes. (All of your second question.) Golf is really big here. Tennis is the "red-headed stepchild."

2: How is tennis viewed socially? Like referred above, is it more exclusive or readily available? Is it popular both pro and recreational interest? Is it easy to find players and leagues/groups?

Tennis probably ranks below, Golf, Skiing, Mountain Biking, Roller Hockey, Hiking, Fishing and Skating. But it's ahead of Lacrosse (barely) and way ahead of Self-Dentistry. There are some private facilities ... if you care to drive into the Denver Metro area ... or Colorado Springs. Five years ago, players were difficult to find. So I started a local Ladder. First year: six guys. Now: 27 players (two women, who are NOT on the bottom of the ladder.)

3: How is tennis development? Do schools have teams and clubs? Pro development?

Our local Parks & Rec people have rekindled their interest in Tennis ... *because* they've seen how successful the Ladder is. This year they are participating in the WTT (jointly with the USTA) for the first time. Our school teams are "average" with most of the kids playing Tennis while they await their "real" sport's season. Pro Development? (That was funny...!)

- KK