Fiend at Court Unplugged
Last week the Umpire who Gave Birth to Me clipped out a column from my hometown newspaper titled “Where have you gone Conners, McEnroe, Agassi and Pete?” When exploring the fragmented nature of media coverage of professional tennis in the United States yesterday, I may have stumbled onto a possible answer to that question. The stars of American tennis didn’t leave the sport but rather the sport left the United States.
After lamenting the fragmented nature of media coverage of professional tennis in the United States yesterday, I embarked an exploration of exactly where tennis has been played during the “Open Era.” My theory was that a large part of the problem with tennis television ratings in the United States is due to the number of tournaments that are significantly outside the standard timezones in the Americas. In the process, I observed an interesting correlation that might also explain the demise of American men’s tennis.
I examined the state of men’s professional tennis at the start of each decade. 1970 was a scant two years after the dawn of the “Open Era” when professionals were first allowed to compete in Grand Slam events. In 1970, 75% of professional events were conducted in the domestic timezones of the United States. 10 years later, there were 12 American men ranked in the top 20. In other words, when professional tennis was largely played out in the United States, a generation of American boys were inspired to play the sport. That lead to domination in the subsequent decade as those players launched professional careers.
By 1980, the percentage of tournaments conducted in the Americas dropped to 45%. 10 years later, there were 7 men in the top 20 including Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras. That is still pretty respectable, but the decline roughly correlates to the drop in exposure of the sport as fewer tournaments were conducted during domestic waking hours.
By 1990, the number of tournaments in United States timezones had dropped to about 25%. A decade later in 2000, Agassi and Sampras were the only two American men in the top 20 and they were holdouts from the previous decade. It was the first big “gap” in the missing generation of male professional tennis players.
The percentage of tournaments conducted in the Americas has remained consistently around 25% ever since. United States men’s professional tennis has been a disappointment during that time. However, you can probably win a bar bet armed with the knowledge that the US had four men ranked in the top #20 in 2010. For the record that was Andy Roddick (#8), Mardy Fish(#16), Sam Querry (#18), and John Isner(#19). It is a blip on an otherwise dismal radar.
“Where have you gone Conners, McEnroe, Agassi and Pete?” To basketball, baseball, football, soccer, golf and all the other sports that dominate the domestic airwaves. To repair men’s tennis in the United States, the promoters of the sport have to do a better job attracting the best athletic talent to the sport. In order to do that, tennis has to capture more media attention.
Tennis promotors need to find a way to make the sport more friendly to media consumers in United States. Moving the locations of tournaments and timezones is probably not an option. Given those constraints, it is going to be a very hard problem to solve.
Rough Timeline
1970
- 75% of professional events conducted in the Americas.
- Pepsi Grand Prix: 20 Events, 13 in the Americas.
- World Championship Tennis. 17 events, 14 were held in the Americas.
- American Stars: Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Cliff Richey, Dennis Ralston, and Pancho Gonzales. (No consolidated rankings.)
- Future Star: John McEnroe was 11 years old in 1970.
1980
- 45% of professional events conducted in the Americas
- Volvo Grand Prix: 83 tournaments, 38 in the Americas.
- Americans in Top 20: John McEnroe(#2), Jimmy Connors(#3), and 10 additional American men in the top 20.
- Future Star: Andre Agassi was 10 years old in 1980.
1990
- 25% of professional events conducted in the Americas.
- ATP Tour: 77 tournaments, 19 in the Americas.
- First official year of the ATP tour.
- Americans in Top 20: Andre Agassi (#4), Pete Sampras (#5), Brad Gilbert (#10), John McEnroe (#13), Michael Chang (#15), Jay Berger (#18), and Aaron Krickstein (#20).
- Future Star: Andy Roddick was 8 years old in 1990.
2000
- 27% of professional events conducted in the Americas.
- 74 tournaments, 20 in the Americas.
- Americans in Top 20: Pete Sampras (#3), Andre Agassi (#6)
- Future Star: Andy Roddick, and Mardy Fish turned pro in 2000. Sam Querry was 13. John Isner was 15.
2010
- 24% of professional events conducted in the Americas.
- 70 tournaments, 17 in the Americas.
- Americans in Top 20: Andy Roddick (#8), Mardy Fish(#16), Sam Querry (#18), John Isner(#19)
- Where have you gone Conners, McEnroe, Agassi and Pete?, Ted Buss, Wichita Falls Times and Record News, July 11, 2021.
