I have been thinking a lot about how senior adult tournament participation isn’t where it should be. The fact that senior tournament tennis is broken is a significant problem facing the USTA. To the organization’s credit, the changes made to the competitive framework over the past few years are a clear indication that the USTA both recognizes the issue and is trying to take steps to address it. As I examine the impact that some of those updates have had on player behavior, I am starting to believe that the overarching challenge is exacerbated by a series of much smaller issues and paradoxes that must be taken into account for any solution to be effective. I am sharing a few of those this weekend in a series of posts that embody the hallmark of the overthinking that this site is known for.
The USTA’s current framework assumes that senior players will behave like juniors—advancing through a series of increasingly expensive and time-consuming tournaments simply for the chance to compete at the national level. But that assumption doesn’t hold up. While junior national tournaments and many of the sub-tiers typically have long lists of alternate players who were not accepted into the draw, adult senior tournaments don’t fill out. Literally anyone who meets the age criteria could enter, but they don’t. It’s a paradox.
While adult senior tennis technically starts at 35 and over, participation is very low until players start turning 55, when the numbers notch up a bit. It makes sense because that is when people typically start retiring, and it is also when any kids they had along the way typically graduate from high school. Empty nesters with a lot of free time rediscover the sport. I fundamentally believe that pattern is a constraint on participation rather than a fundamental problem that anyone needs to solve. People need to both invest in their careers and take care of their families. Tennis can wait.
However, for players aged 55 and above, participation remains very low compared to juniors. In senior tennis, the number of people who make their way to all four Level 1 National Championship Gold Ball tournaments each calendar year is very small. The reason most frequently cited for that fact is that it is very expensive to travel to those events, and also that it takes a lot of time. However, it is equally expensive for junior players as well, yet they turn out in droves.
When you think about it, it’s a little bizarre. Families routinely pour tens of thousands of dollars into junior tennis without ever truly questioning the cost. Private coaching, academy tuition, plane tickets, hotel rooms, and entry fees are seen as investments in potential, often with no guarantee of long-term return, not even a college scholarship. It’s just what you do if your kid shows promise and wants to compete.
But once those same players age out of junior tennis and become successful adults with actual disposable income of their own, something shifts. The idea of spending money on their own competitive tennis pursuits feels indulgent, even frivolous. Senior players—many of whom have built careers, raised families, and accumulated a lifetime of hard-earned resources—are suddenly reluctant to invest in themselves.
It’s a striking paradox. Junior players have an abundance of time, but very little money—and yet, the system finds a way to fund their ambitions. Parents, grandparents, and sometimes entire families’ budgets are bent to accommodate the pursuit of USTA ranking points. By contrast, senior players are in the inverse position: they often have the money, but not nearly as much time left in their lifespan. And yet, they hesitate.
There’s a psychological shift that happens with age, a scarcity mindset that makes it feel imprudent to spend on “nonessentials,” even when the bank account says otherwise. Yes, some seniors face genuine financial constraints, but many are not truly limited. They simply feel that investing in competitive play is no longer justifiable. But if not now, when?
This contrast underscores a quiet dysfunction in the economics of adult tennis. We’ve built a culture that celebrates aspiration in youth but quietly discourages pursuit in later life. And that’s a shame—because the joy of competing, improving, and being part of a community doesn’t end later in life. Or at least it shouldn’t for a sport that touts itself as a lifetime endeavor.
I don’t think this paradox can be addressed by any technical implementation. What is needed is a culture shift, and that is genuinely hard.
I’m 40 and got back into tennis a couple months ago after an 8 or so year hiatus. I’ve noticed that injuries and obesity are the main demons plaguing 30+ year old players. I know you can always play less physically demanding doubles, but when you have an injury named after the sport [Tennis Elbow] people are less likely to risk looking like they’re no longer the young invincible versions of themselves like we all were through our 20s. It has been like pulling teeth getting anyone around my age to hit. The ball machine has become my friend as it’s just so expensive to pay the teaching pro to hit with since I already know how to play the game at a 5.0 level, but need to knock the rust off and get conditioning back, so I hover between 4.0 and 4.5 for now. Just need some match experience.
Unfortunately, the last tournament I entered there was a grand total of 3 players including myself. I remember the competitive thrill of moving up the tourny ladder of 64+ players earning “King of the Hill” bragging rights. Playing 2 other players, while fun, didn’t scratch that competitive itch.
To sum it up in my personal view post-20s aged people tend to have either developed chronic injuries or are flat out lazy. I’m very very close to giving up and playing pickleball. If you can’t beat them, join them.
Wonderful to read the above comments. My journey is such that, at 66, I am enjoying the process of continuous improvement, both maintaining flexibility (Yoga, Barre), strength training, aerobic conditioning (elliptical, walking), tennis lessons, and regular singles and doubles play with juniors to seniors here in my home town of Chicago. I am ramping up competitive play as I continue to improve (I started serious play in my 40s so never had the junior travel experience). During the pandemic I read “Late To The Ball: A Journey Into Tennis and Aging” by Gerald Marzorati. In an unattributed quote, I found my perfect mantra inspiring my tennis journey I now pursue with relish (time, energy and $$). The quote: “I want to run, hard and fast, toward something, while I still could.” That sums up the zeal I put toward my pursuit. I am blessed with a body that has no fundamental ailments impacting my aspirations… yet. They will come, and I surely will adjust. At present I am just so happy to feel like a kid when I play ball, with my lefty-ness and speed. I fantasize about taking on an aging John McEnroe when we are both in our 80s (we are the same age) and maybe getting a few games off him due to my fitness and abilities. But mostly its just awesome to be approaching my competitive play as an athlete, and doing everything I can to do and be my best. Feel darn lucky to be on this path!
I’m not sure I agree with your analysis on why older people aren’t entering tournaments.
We have a group of women, from late 50’s to 70’s who love to travel and play in tournaments.
We still do drills, lessons, etc., to try and improve/keep up our skills.
When we are looking at tournaments, it seems that the 55 and over is getting bumped in to 40 and over, due to the reason you are saying, lack of participation, but I have no idea why as our group is a bunch of go- getters. Some people who are late 60’s-70 really don’t want to play in 40 and over, so then they get in the habit of doing nothing; I can certainly see that happening.
I do think that USTA needs to loosen up the guidelines on forming teams to compete at older ages.
To allow only 1 or 2 out of area players isn’t feasible at the 65+ ages. I think if they opened it up more, to allow more out of area players, it could help get the older players back to being more enthused about playing in tournaments. A lot of people I know quit playing around 70ish, so it’s’ harder to get teams in a small area.
Your deductions may be true in other areas, but not so much in my group of players in Texas.
What do you think?
I enjoy tennis in a community full of USTA league players and club members who are no longer interested in scored competition but play very competitively 2-3 times/week. These are very active seniors some of whom are also caring for a parent, a spouse, and grandchildren – seniors who have many other activities in their lives. The USTA folks love league play and many are on more than one team so are with league one-two nights a week – either playing or cheering on teammates. Playing this amount can be set up to accomodate one’s schedule and let one’s body recover. However tournament play is often a three day commitment where you don’t know exactly when you will be playing and you might be asked to play twice in a day two to three days in a row. And add travel to that – well the feedback is that loses fun life balance — well except I do hear positive feedback for sectionals play but we often stay in a house play other games (ping pong/bean bag toss/cards) when no tennis is being played. Tournament play feels more individual whereas this community seems to appreciate tennis when it’s accompanied by group social activities with a wonderful group. Feedback from my friends who just played in a local tournament was that – their whole weekend was suddenly gone.
I’m turning 80 in a few months, and I play tennis five to seven times a week (mostly doubles, but I get one or two singles matches in each week). And BTW, I live in Maryland, where the weather isn’t cooperating nearly every day of the year; nevertheless, we play outdoors if at all possible, reverting to indoor play when we must. So tennis is indeed a lifetime sport for me, even though I’m only a 3.5 player. I am quite happy not dealing with all the USTA nonsense (travel, cost, scheduling, administration, and–dare I say–creative line-calling). Instead, I have a large community of fellow enthusiasts with whom I can compete at my level, and have fun, on an almost daily basis.
I think a lot of it as an adult is kind of a “been there, done that, do I really need to do this again” kind of mindset, especially after you’ve played the circuit (local or national) a few times. In juniors, it was a consistent mix of new players, new matches, new challenges…as well as chasing skill building and improvement.
As an adult, a lot of the draws are players you’ve seen and competed against many times before. Which is why it’s fun to travel out of your area a lot more as an adult. At least for me it was. To be a stranger in a foreign land, even if that land is Los Angeles or Miami. But that was just more expensive and not as regular an occurrence. When you’re a kid, your parents are paying for that. When you’re an adult, you are, so it just becomes a bit more thought to the value, because you know at 50+ years old your most elite tennis in terms of actual skill is probably behind you (still fun as hell, but it’s a stark athletic realization for sure).
The social element of the tournament is almost never thought of, or even close to or on par with the tennis part, sadly….because it’s truly expensive and a gamble to incorporate that for tournament directors. People lose, they’re off. They’re gruff. They’re not always sociable or fun or willing to be at a player party or cutting it as close as possible to even play. No consolation, no meetups prior, or dinners during, unless it’s probably with someone you already know. It becomes a lot more of a singular pursuit, which is also fun, but considerably more lonely.
The idea of a tournament where you’re staying all the way through to the end is just not a part of the equation for everyone. You lose, you’re off, adios.
We experimented with some flighted tournaments here in the Southwest a few years ago and I really liked it (more round robin like the ATP Finals), where you continue to play even if you’re losing. That’s also harder as an adult, because injuries seem to be more prevalent (or it’s also their reason to pull the ripcord and drop out if they’ve taken an L), so no one would finish a draw and people would be cheated out of a certain number of matches.
It’s a tough needle to thread.
I agree completely. I’m 80 years old and have tried my hand at both national and international tournaments. I’m just a club player that loves the game. But to travel to another city, pay for a hotel room, rent a car, play a preliminary match and get eliminated in a day or so is not worth it to me. I have implored officials to go to round robin. I want to be there no less than three days, meet a lot of people, play a lot of different players and get a chance to socialize. What I get now is a a couple of matches over a couple of days and very little interaction. I’m the perfect candidate for USTA to want me to attend competitive events but I’m jaded.
Good morning! I know you were just offering one reason for low participation, but I would think it is a relatively minor one for all the reasons you listed. My sense would be that most seniors have a variety of things they enjoy doing in their spare time and don’t have the more singular focus on improving their tennis game that they did when they were much younger. Additionally, speaking for myself, playing five or six matches over a two or three day span is simply not good for my body. Finally, many of us would much rather visit family/friends or explore the world when we travel. I offer this all just as food for thought for you.