Tennis - The Lonely Sport

by Joel Drucker 

The Lonely Sport

What do I mean by that and why do I think it has profound implications? First, let me paint the picture.

On the one hand, I think individualism and freedom are as highly-valued in tennis as they are in American society. No other sport is so wonderful at breeding that simultaneous sense of self-reliance - and engagement. Sure, other sports like running or skiing or even golf are individual activities, but in those sports you're not truly engaged with someone so much as you are playing in parallel with someone.

Just think - tennis is the only sport where you call your own lines. Can you imagine a basketball player calling himself for traveling? Most of all, as we know only too well, tennis is a sport where you always have to take the last shot, make the last at bat, and both call and execute the play.

So as a whole, tennis players are pretty self-contained hombres. It creates a rather determined temperament - a person who pretty much believes he or she knows best. Tennis players make good entrepreneurs, though they may not necessarily be the most corporate of people.  

But the downside is that tennis' emphasis on individualism has bred a culture of isolation. We pretty much stink at building communities - and in turn, growing the sport. 

Check this out: One of the major reasons tennis has declined has nothing to do with top American players, or player development, or TV ratings, or Pete Sampras' hair, or Andre Agassi's volatility, or the bygone days of Connors and McEnroe, or golf, or racquet technology.  

It's this simple: People often leave tennis because they can't find anyone to play with.

Selectivity - Ducking and Snobbery  

Let’s consider how extensively tennis isolates and alienates any but the most maniacal of people. One big culprit: ducking. Even though it's truly possible to improve your game no matter who you're playing, the tennis world is rampant with cases of people who are exceptionally selective about who they play with. This happens at all levels: 

• The 5.0 who barely acknowledges the 4.0

• The junior who hits more than she plays - and lets her parent do the booking for her

• Club members who give the cold shoulder to new members

• Park players who grunt and grimace when someone new shows up at the facility

• League players who sandbag - and league players who demand higher ratings 

• I've even heard cases of this happening at the world-class level, where a former top 100 player refuses to practice with a fellow ex-top 100 player - but will gladly play with a former Davis Cupper

• The belief many players have that the only way to improve is to play better players

No question, we all want good matches. But at least on a basketball court, everyone is given a shot - then the competition tells the story. 

So what we end up with are facilities where people avoid playing with each other - hardly what I'd call a community.  

Alongside ducking comes snobbery. And for this I'll give you an example of how it works with my favorite tennis nation, Australia.

One year I was at the ATP tournament in Indian Wells. I wandered near a practice court, and came across the great Roy Emerson, who'd just put down his racquets and was stretching in anticipation of hitting a few balls, no doubt with a fellow top player.  

Working in my journalistic capacity, I began chatting him up, asking questions about today's game, recalling past matches he'd played, and so on. After about ten minutes, I noticed Emerson's partner hadn't arrived, so I figured, what the hell, and asked him if he wanted to hit some.

"Sure, mate," he said, "grab one of my sticks." 

Now I'm nothing more than a 4.5-5.0 player, but fortunately I was able to block back his balls, and he was kind enough to engage in polite banter. "Smooth lefty," he said, "When'd you get off the circuit?"  Of course this was garden variety schmoozing on his part, but what the hell, right? What's the harm in a little friendly chat?

After hitting for ten minutes, his partner, Dennis Ralston, a former top American known for his fiery temperament, showed up on the court. Instantly I knew my moment was over, and walked up to the net to thank Emerson for his time. "Thank you, lefty," he said. 

Ralston didn't even notice I existed. No hello, no blarney, no nothing. I mention Ralston because I want to point out that the gap isn't generational. It's tempting to think that the older players were hearty, inclusive fellows and that arrogance is more of a recent phenomena. Well, I've got news for you, it's not true.  

So tell me: Who would you rather have building a tennis community, an inclusive Aussie or a thoughtless American? 

I'll give you another example of how Australia builds a community and we don't. It was 1997, and Patrick Rafter had just won his first U.S. Open. There, in the locker room, he was surrounded by his fellow Aussies, Fred Stolle, Tony Roche, John Newcombe, Ken Rosewall, all welcoming him into the club of Slam winners.  

Can you imagine Don Budge and Jack Kramer hanging with Connors or Sampras or Agassi? No way. I've personally spoken with many venerable old-timers during Slams, and instead of giving it up for the new champ, they told me how they'd beat Pete.  

"You Yanks," says Stolle, "You're so busy brooding and thinking about your own matches that you lose track of your mates and the fun of the game. Why, you barely have time to sit and have a drink after playing a friendly doubles match." 

I'll grant you, American individualism makes us pretty darn good at building economies and running UN missions. But there are times when I think we're too individualistic for our own good when it comes to tennis. 

What is to be Done?

So what can be done about this loneliness? Who's got the chance to fix it? Well, the pro game ain't going to do anything, because most of all they've got big players who want to make big money. Period, thank you, Yevgeny Kafelnikov.

The USTA? On an institutional basis, maybe, simply sponsoring leagues and running the occasional photo-op day in some poor community. But culturally, I think the USTA mostly cares about top players and big events. Even at the sectional level, USTA leaders care more about getting people in the game and seeing stars pan out. Keeping people in the game isn't their concern. 

Don't get me started on the ITF. 

So who does that leave? It leaves the teaching pros.  

Teaching pros hold the keys to keeping people in the game, to making a happy, thriving tennis community. The way for teaching pros to do this isn't just to be first-rate instructor, but instead, to be an over-the-top promoter. 

The person who takes lessons is only one small part of the puzzle. Fine, they take lessons, but that means they're already in the church. But then again, many students only play when they take lessons. 

How can you get them to play more? How can you get them into other matches? Besides giving lessons, what else can pros do to keep people in the game and make them enjoy it even more?  

It doesn't take that much: giving a clinic, offering a free lesson and, perhaps most of all, helping people get people to play with.  What a difference it might make if every pro would try a few or all of the following:

Special events like costume tournaments and the Wimbledon Woodies allow players of various skill levels to play together and build a tennis community

• Put on special events that mix up players of various skill levels? 

• Encourage juniors and seniors to play singles and doubles? 

• Spend a few minutes watching two members play and then offer to talk with them afterwards? 

• Look for ways to build excitement for  the game rather than just run one program after another? 

The Teaching Pro

But teaching pros are the most overworked and underpaid members of the entire tennis hierarchy. And now I’m suggesting that they take on the weight of solving the longstanding problems of the lonely sport?  They haven’t done it in the past—and they won’t do it alone. That’s why the other powers that be, the USTA, the teaching pro organizations, the equipment companies, should all be looking for ways to make this possible. 

How can they help the working teaching pros free the time and energy to help people get more involved in the game? A leading Bay Area teacher with 20 years experience says there is only one answer: financial incentive. 

A few years ago Wilson tried to make free teaching pro racquets and equipment contingent on pros documenting that they had brought a certain number of new players into the game. The hue and cry from the pros caused them to drop it after one year. 

Really, my friend says, it has to work the other way. What if teaching pros got double the equipment for bringing in a certain number of players, or running certain types of events, setting up matches, or proposing and executing their own grow the community programs? 

Taking players en mass to tournaments or college matches for example. Doing informal get togethers and mixers or barbeques? What if this was subsidized by the USTA and the tennis industry in general? What if their clubs paid them on an hourly basis for this kind of contribution instead of just for lessons?

What if the top pro in every community—based on his contribution to growing the game—got a free week at the U.S. Open? 

Reaching Out to New Players

I want to give you a glimpse about who this sport is trying to reach, and why we must keep these kind of people in mind.  

Imagine, if you will, a 14-year-old boy. He doesn't have many friends. He's somewhat of a loner. And he loves tennis. Loves it to pieces - playing, watching, talking, thinking about it. 

He's not particularly good, so he's not exactly fawned over by parents or coaches or racquet companies or tournament directors. No one ever tells him he has talent, or even that he could play college tennis.  

But he keeps playing, and in junior tournaments, he loses in the first round - a lot. Eight straight times, week after week, all over his section. 

And he knows very much how lonely tennis can be. We all know the difference in being at a tournament when you've won your match -- and being there when you've lost. You want to get the hell out of there. But when you're 14, and waiting for a friend to finish so you can get a ride home, you don't have much choice but to stick around. So you hang out, feeling like a leper. 

So you see, the way the culture of tennis works, every single aspect of it pretty much contributes to him wanting to leave tennis altogether. Hell, at least if he was playing baseball, basketball, football or soccer, he'd be part of a team - not a star, but part of the whole deal, included in the sport's action.  

And the funny thing is, at a junior tournament, half the people playing are riding the pine with this guy by the end of day one. Sure, you talk about consolation tournaments, but . . . please.  

So we've got to keep this kid in the sport. We've got to give him reasons to keep caring and stay involved - without being patronizing.  

Because in the world we have now, what with the way parents, coaches and officials make such a big deal over top kids, it's all too easy for him to say "to hell with it." We can't just count on this kid's own tenacity to overcome that loneliness. We need to start thinking of success in tennis as something beyond match wins or rankings . . . we need to think of ways to keep people in this game and get them to love it in victory or defeat, simply for the joy of playing and trying and learning.  

You see, I know this kid quite well.  

It was me. 

Your comments are welcome. Let us know what you think about Joel Drucker's article by emailing us here at TennisONE.  

Oakland-based Joel Drucker has been involved in tennis for many years as a player and writer. He’s written extensively about the game for such publications as Tennis Magazine, HBO Sports and Biography Magazine. He also served as the technical editor on Patrick McEnroe’s book, Tennis For Dummies. Joel will be writing regularly for TennisONE about the pro tennis circuit. 

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