Is Tennis the 20th Most Popular Sport in the USA?

You are probably doing this wrong on your forehand bit.ly/nmbr1fhpr
In episode 5 of my “What happened to American Tennis” series of videos I talk about whether the best athletes in the United States play tennis and much more…
Some product links are affiliate links which means if you buy something, I’ll receive a small commission.
🎾 Get 10% off on n1 & n2 Nisplay ball machines by entering coupon code INTUITIVE
nisplaysports.com
🎾 Get 10% OFF on Kirschbaum Strings & Grips (ENTER CODE INTUITIVETENNIS AT CHECKOUT)
kirschbaumusa....
🎾 Improve Your Swing Path with the Topspin Pro
topspinpro.com...
🎾 Get 25% OFF on Gamma Tennis Products (enter code nit25) www.gammasport...
🎾 Tennis Equipment Reviews:
www.amazon.com...
🎾 Get the Functional Tennis Saber
www.functional...
🎾 Get the Intuitive Tennis iPhone/iPad App
apple.co/3c5IyJp
🖱 SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE VIDEOS LIKE THIS
👉🏻 www.youtube.co...
🎾 Second KZbin Channel 👉 / intuitivetennis247
🎾 Premium Content 👉 www.intuitivet...
🎾 Video Analysis 👉 bit.ly/2Kz8AEK
🎾 Instagram 👉 / intuitivetennis
🎾 TikTok 👉 / intuitivetennis
🎾 Facebook 👉 / intuitivetennis
#intuitivetennis #americantennis

[@IntuitiveTennis]

Top 5 Strings Pro & Rec Level 👉 kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKSZZ6eXrZWjedksi=4q7N9OFHtvb3M68T

[@Wedge4Life]

A woman in the town near me didnt like how Pickleball wanted to take over her local court....she contacted the City and started her own Tennis club she made a list if local players and strength is in numbers, if you do nothing and say nothing your gonna get nothing

[@germanslice]

@@tennishack Pickelball, well I tried out that game but I didn't really like it because I had a problem with the grip. I could do slice drives but I could not do any topspin drives with these little short bats because part of my wrist was locking up with the bat, it felt like part of the bat itself was blocking off the wrist when I got about halfway up through in my swing when swinging low to high I would feel the wrist being restricted by the bat during the swing.. I didnt know why the slice grip worked and didn't lock the wrist, but the topspin grip kept on locking up the wrist and dumping the pickelball down into the top of the tape. Because I use the semi western grip for doing topspin drives with in tennis and I use eastern backhand.

[@jordanl1578]

Tennis requires a lot of dedication and time to even play at a low level.. nowadays people are gonna wanna play the more casual version

[@telquel7843]

I have tried to get many athletic friends into tennis but they simply couldn't deal with the learning curve. It takes a lot of patience to play tennis. 🤷

[@Siloguy]

@@telquel7843 yeah it takes some dedication, almost every stroke needs to be worked on individually. The tipping point is usually the serve I find, that takes a lot of effort.

[@telquel7843]

@@Siloguy yeah, I have a decent serve but it's still probably the lowest hanging fruit in my game where I could/should earn more free points. My flat serve could be faster, my kick serve could use more kick, and my Alice serve needs more consistency. Well, they could all use more consistency 🤷

[@ikergonzalez3498]

aye i love this series man

[@IntuitiveTennis]

💯

[@K4R3N]

Tennis needs to go back on broadcast channels ABC, NBC, CBS. People are cutting cable (I did years ago) and ESPN has the slams. Should be free over the air!

[@Wooooosaaaaaa]

And streamed on KZbin. Over 10K of us watched live commentary with Cam on KZbin during the US Open

[@SilverBloodedOne]

This!!!

[@zatosan729]

Years ago the slams allowed fans to watch any live match on their website but stopped. Cannot build popularity when organisations block easier access to watch tennis.

[@krob2327]

@@zatosan729tennis is too expensive too

[@scottcarson3059]

Pickle ball requires less skill so more people can play well... The problem is now people want to play well quickly.. ALSO pickle ball is less clique so maybe appeals to more people. Tennis all over the world has to open up, build more courts etc

[@1114gabby]

Pickleball is eclipsing tennis because it is easier to learn. Even though we have great players they are not enough to create mass interest as Borg, Connors and McEnroe did. The Tennis boom was in the 70's...when you had to reserve a public court. Now they stay mostly open.

[@SunsPhan75]

I think the carrot drives the competition from a country perspective. My son's play basketball, while I played college tennis. Neither of them want to follow the tennis path based on popularity and I won't necessarily disagree with them if they have a shot to make it to a pro league. Some of the more recent reports i've seen on only a top 100 to 200 tennis players in the world making a sustainable living is a bit scary. Meanwhile, you can be a bench player in any other sport and have guaranteed and sustainable income (the odds are still low, but more league options etc)

[@sushispicelatte]

After Sampras and Agassi, Europe has dominated men's tennis, and I think it's gonna be that way for a long time. I'm from America, and I love tennis, but the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, even soccer and golf, are gonna stay ahead of tennis for a long time in America (for men's sports)

[@torrancewynn7554]

If Tiafoe wins a few grandslams, I believe that tennis would will move up in the rankings from other sports. Tiafoe already has supporters from the NBA such as Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, and Jimmy Bulter. His impact in culture is starting to take off. The US Open is played when no other significant sporting event is taking place, and being on one of the biggest stages in the world (NYC). However the downside is that all matches are not aired on the major sporting networks making it harder for a causal person to watch. Flipping through ESPN randomly I've seen Poker, Ultimate Frisbee, Handball, Curling, Horse racing, etc...

[@derf199]

The U.S. Open finals happen on opening NFL weekend which is a terrible schedule conflict. It has super low viewership. The other slams are on bad dates also when it comes to American sporting events like the NFL playoffs, NCAA Bball final four, etc. Also about Tiafoe, he’s declining. He doesn’t seem like he’ll be much of a factor for long. Don’t forget the rookie Ben Shelton beat him badly at the U.S. Open, then Shelton disrespected him. For an American to do that to another American was super dumb and immature. It was hard to watch.

[@finzblazin]

The thing w tennis is its an individual sport - not the same cheering on a team you grew up watching as a kid. Honestly I do enjoy watching a tennis match but dont really care who wins

[@Aqua_Holic_Fishing]

We travel with Tennis quite a bit now, traveled with other sports for many years. Organized Tennis is in the tank overall, for various reasons of course. These tournaments are poorly handled, USTA, as well as several others. Cost of tournaments is pretty inexpensive, maybe that's the reason they're ran so poorly? Awards, Shirts and courts are usually pretty rough at best. We won't stop, but I could see why many likely do/will along the way. Just some thoughts overall.

[@peterstern1375]

Very well put! Pretty much agree with everything, perhaps it would make sense to add some differentiation, mainly based on whether the rankings are based on "spectator media following" or "practice on competitive level". A further distinction could be made on whether the practitioners are youth or grown ups, and in general it could make sense to list rankings based on male or female, and only after that a list that includes both. This would probably boost certain sports, as for instance soccer in the USA, generally the rankings are made more from a male point of view. Obviously the fan following has an influence on the number of people that practice the various sports on both the recreational level and the competitive level, and it also has an influence on which sports are being promoted at school. In Europe the rankings would probably look something like this Europe, sports based on following via media 1 Football - soccer 2 Formula 1 3 Tennis But it varies quite a bit from country to country, in the main markets it would probably look something like this, although the lists are by no means precise, just a rough idea. Germany - fan following 1 Football - soccer 2 Motorsports - F1 and DTM 3 Biathlon 4 Handball 5 Basketball 6 Tennis Germany - competitors men & women (starting from just above the purely recreational level, including school sports; same for the other countries) 1 Football - soccer 2 Tennis 3 Running 4 Volleyball 5 Cycling pretty much the same list (at least on the fan level) would represent Switzerland and Austria, but instead of Biathlon there would be Alpine Skiing in Austria and Switzerland and it would be placed number 2. Instead of Handball there would be Ice Hockey. In Austria Skijumping might have a bigger fan following than Basketball, and in Switzerland swiss-wrestling might replace Basketball. In the Benelux countries Ice-skating, Cycling and Volleyball would replace Biathlon, Handball, Basketball. France - fans 1 Football - soccer 2 Rugby 3 Tennis 4 Cycling 5 Motorsports - F1 France - competitors men & women 1 Football - soccer 2 Tennis 3 Cycling 4 Running 5 Rugby Italy - fans 1 Football - soccer 2 Volleyball 3 Motorsports - F1 and MotoGP 4 Basketball 5 Tennis Italy - competitors men & women 1 Football - soccer 2 Volleyball 3 Tennis 4 Swimming 5 Running 6 Cycling 7 Basketball UK - fans 1 Football - soccer 2 Motorsports - F1 3 Rugby 4 Cricket 5 Darts 6 Tennis 7 Cycling UK - competitors men & women 1 Football - soccer 2 Darts 3 Running 4 Cycling 5 Rugby Spain - fans 1 Football - soccer 2 Motorsports - F1 and MotoGP 3 Basketball 4 Tennis 5 Handball Spain - competitors men & women 1 Football - soccer 2 Tennis 3 Running 4 Cycling 5 Basketball Scandinavia - fans 1 Football - soccer 2 Ice Hockey 3 Winter Sports 4 Hanball 5 Motorsports - F1 and rally 6 Tennis Scandinavia - competitors men & women 1 Football - soccer 2 Ice Hockey 3 Winter Sports mainly cross country skiing 4 Running 5 Handball 6 Cycling 7 Tennis Russia - fans 1 Ice Hockey 2 Football - soccer 3 Winter Soprts 4 Volleyball 5 Basketball 6 Tennis Russia - competitors men & women 1 Football - soccer 2 Running 3 Winter Soprts 4 Volleyball 5 Tennis Slavic countries (Poland, CZK, SLO, CRO, SRB, BUL, UKR) - fans 1 Football - soccer 2 Volleyball 3 Basketball 4 Tennis 5 Handball Slavic countries - competitors men & women 1 Football - soccer 2 Volleyball 3 Tennis 4 Running 5 Swimming

[@crgb386]

Pickleball should live in a different galaxy from tennis: the noise is unbearable

[@knotwilg3596]

Although I believe you are right there's an optimum for height in tennis that is above the average height of a male, you also need to correct for the fact that height is normally distributed. BTW I have always thought it odd that basketball is so popular in the US, knowing that 99% of the talent is going to be smothered by their limits in growth.

[@derekpappas1556]

The top 10 sports are sports that are year round and less costly , except for golf . To be proficient in tennis , you need the correct weather and locations year round . Nascar uses a car that many people have and do on every road here in the U.S .

[@josephkulakowski3392]

I believe the expense of tennis has something to do with it’s ranking. If you want to get any where in tennis you have to have money. Average people in the US do not have this kind of disposable income to spend on tennis.

[@Siloguy]

Good point, to play at any kind of rewarding level requires taking lessons whereas pickleball can be played almost immediately with no lessons. Baseball and hockey though require a fairly big expense outlay (in fact hockey is almost a sport for the affluent in Canada now)

[@denfl6605]

I always thought tennis is one of the most expensive sports for my kids. They really want to play it at competitive level, but we stick with competitive gymnastics. There is no way to grow in it without taking private lessons that usually cost around $100/hr these days. Group clinics don't help much at beginners level. I have not seen in the area any decent group programs at fair price that middle income family is ok to spend ($300-$500/ month). So, eventually someone who wants to invest in tennis, needs to be able to pay 3 private lessons a week = $300 + 2 clinics = $50, that is $1400 a month!!! That is 3 times more than competitive gymnastics, for example. I just don't see an average population ever getting in this sport...

[@zacharylore3400]

Great points all around. I don’t understand why Americans need an American win multiple slams in order to be interested. It’s true tennis is a niche sport but people in the tennis world are usually passionate about tennis. There’s a beauty and athleticism in tennis that is absent in pickle ball. Lastly, in terms of top ten sports I don’t believe boxing is that popular anymore and MMA has surpassed it. Golf is more popular among adults because you don’t have to be fit to play, you can drink, and there’s an element of prestige to play such an expensive game.

[@angusvanhalen2886]

Man, if you watched the Wimbledon final 2023, I don’t see how you couldn’t be a tennis fan for life

[@IntuitiveTennis]

I agree

[@angusvanhalen2886]

@@tennishack 100%. It was a great match, felt just like watching a slam. Shows how close those 2 are in ability.

[@MAELOB]

John Lucas NBA basketball player from the 70s and 80s was also a good college all American tennis player and played wtt 6 3” 175 😉

[@willkittwk]

Good breakdown. And the point about American only pay attention to winners is real. Also the point about our best athletes going into football basketball and baseball revolves around them getting paid big even before they do anything great in the pros. As far as transition from a big Three sport to tennis its hands down baseball which skills are pretty interchangeable. Not basketball for sure and not football except maybe a quarter back. In fact Zach Grienke famous MLB pitcher was a excellent Jr tennis player and Drew Brees all time Great NFL quater back beat Andy Roddick twice as a Jr in Texas. There's your nuance. If you look at the acrobatics of a MLB shorts top they equal or are often better than ATP tennis players in range of motion and hand to eye skills.

[@ccbowers]

I think top 10 could be exciting if the talent and ability weren't as top heavy as it has been. The top handful of players being very dominant makes for an exciting era, but also takes away some excitement from highly, but lower ranked players

[@spongegolfer2155]

Excellent video as usual, Nik. A few comments on the size of the player: I agree that the GOATS (Fed, Nadal, Joker and Sampras) up until now have been in the 6'1" to 6'2" height range. And I agree that agility is extremely important in tennis. However, I think the typical height of the players at the top of the rankings will change DRAMATICALLY over the next 5-20 years. I think we'll see much taller guys become the norm on the ATP tour. I think guys in the 6'4" to 6'8" range will be VERY commonplace, and that height, so long as it is NOT accompanied by bulk, will be shown to be a HUGE BENEFIT TO SUCCESS. This wave is already underway (Ben Shelton, Chris Eubanks, Sebastian Korda, and Taylor Fritz on the American side; Med, Zverev, Hurkacz from Europe). The easy power that these taller guys have at their disposal, and the advantage of a higher hitting point on the serve, will make it harder (but not impossible) for the relatively shorter guys to compete. Coaches are getting better at teaching agility to young juniors. So the guys who grow up to be 6'4" and taller will have learned how to be agile by the time they reach their full height. Yes, a lot of agility is just a gift at birth, but a lot of agility is also a learned skill. And when the youngsters with very tall parents see very tall players being successful at the highest levels of tennis, then more and more of these kids will pursue tennis. At least in America, that will be the catalyst for the type of physique that typically goes into basketball to instead give tennis a shot. When that happens, guys who are 6'1" or 6'2" will be considered on shorter side for elite level tennis. Not saying those guys won't be able to compete. Just saying it will be much harder for them.

[@IntuitiveTennis]

Thank you for the comment. I disagree with your assessment. Alcaraz (6’0) and Sinner (6’2) and Rune (6’2) will dominate tennis in the next 10-15 years. Those guys will be the next big 3. Tall guys move better then ever, but they’ll never move like someone 6’0-6’2. Tennis requires specific movement that’s is different from any other sport and the taller you are the more disadvantages you will have.

[@spongegolfer2155]

@@IntuitiveTennis These guys definitely fit the ideal physical mold you've mentioned. No doubt Alcaraz is going to be right there for quite some time. He's way ahead of anybody except Joker. Can't argue with that. Sinner should win some slams as well. Rune could turn out to be like a Sergio Garcia in golf. Tremendous talent but somewhat of a hot dog and emotionally on the court not the equal of Alcaraz and Sinner. So we'll see about Rune. I have high hopes for Ben Shelton. Needs more consistency, but his game is among the most powerful, if not THE most powerful, when you look at serve and ground stroke pace. Always enjoy channel!

[@BurnsTennis]

Something interesting to note. Only two guys 6 ft 6 in height won slams. JM Del Potro in 2009 and Daniil Medvedev in 2021! Before that, Todd Martin at 6 ft 6 made slam finals in 1994 and 1999. Richard Krajicek was the previous tallest at 6 ft 5 to win a slam in 1996. These days, Some American male tennis players tend to grow to almost 7 ft. Unlikely to become great champions at those heights.

[@bigrobsydney]

Part of the problem with the US GENERALLY is that it's a rich country AND has a healthy tapestry of sports and opportunity, backed by big media exposure. I will never forget PRIME TIME, NEON DEION SANDERS. I saw a segment on the news where he hit a home run, AND returned an intercept for a touchdown, in the same week. Athletes like this move the needle, and have a HUGE following. Also, team sports vs individual sports. Look at college athletes now; I see some girls are able to use their images from college, and some have become millionaires before they even get to open competition. Compare that to tennis players like Noah Rubin, who was #125 in the world, and had to quit tennis recently just to pay the bills with a regular job. Tennis as a sport is doing a TERRIBLE job of promotion for the athletes, compared to other US sports.

[@deathbombs]

Can you make a video on if coaches should be allowed in matches? Also maybe a new format of tennis, where there's a bench and players can switch in at any time (like Baseball)

[@IntuitiveTennis]

I will talk coaching soon…

[@jennysmyth1439]

If I were 6’5” and 220 lbs and had a choice between a sport in which I could make $5 million/yr ranked 500 in the world vs a sport where I was in debt unless I were top 100, I’d know where I’d spend my time training. There is no optimum height/weight! It’s pre-selected by $$$.

[@shongthoj]

nishikori still the most popular celebrity in japan. also son in south korea but thats for soccer

[@atheistcory4174]

Some interesting points and stats.

[@jorgetirado3201]

Agree with this video in general - however, the bigger issue with tennis being so low on the popularity index here is that youngsters by the hundreds of thousands play the big three sports from an early age, and who knows who of those ~6 footers would have ended up being great at tennis but mediocre at football/baseball/basketball? Watching all these incredibly athletic guards in the NCAA tournament, for example, makes it clear how much depth of incredible talent and skill of people with perfect tennis physiques who never played and won't make the NBA. In addition, even though pro soccer isn't very popular, it's hugely popular at the youth level, and again an example of so many potential great tennis players never being exposed to the sport. Pickleball just makes it worse as it takes away from accesibility of tennis courts, and it's just such a throw away game that's really just a social past-time vs. a real intense sport.

[@BurnsTennis]

Sampras was unlucky. Back in the days of baggy sports clothes, his biceps were hidden but he had surprisingly big biceps. Well with that racquet which was half the weight of a bselball bat, he needed big biceps.

[@OdinsMonkey]

marketing by tennis associations needs to improve along with reduction of friction to view. Also allowing for more personalities to show ala Kyrgios. Rec/Youth level i think the emphasis should be accessibility. Pickleball has its hold in huge part because of the super easy learning curve and mixed gender opportunity but also helps that equipment wise it's simple. You dont need a new can of balls every time you play. Would be nice if some of the pressureless balls took off and got adopted to help reduce costs in tennis.

[@peterstern1375]

above a certain level, tennis players are well advised to use good balls, so using a fresh can of pressurized balls for each day you play is not exaggerated. Same goes for strings, but that naturally depends on how much one plays. If it's modern monofilament strings they get dead quite rapidly, so if playing regularly getting new strings at least once a month is a good idea to save the arm. Even if one doesn't hit particularly hard and has the ball in the sweetspot more often than not, but if one crushes the ball catching it often closer to the frame than the sweetspot then playing with dead balls and dead strings is deadly for the arm. The more elastic balls and strings are, the less one has to force the arm. Obviously if technique and form are so bad that the ball is framed continuously then even new balls and strings won't save the arm.

[@K4R3N]

Fully agree with your conclusion based on opinions of my brother and other casual tennis fans. Also, I don't boxing is 4th, no one I know talks about boxing anymore. Oscar De La Hoya was maybe the last guy that mattered. These other celebrity fighters are not serious.

[@VintageSecure]

Hate this too in my area the took 2 tennis courts to make them into pickleball courts. We never had enough space to begin with now its even worse.

[@yowzadave]

No top-level athlete in the US could be blamed for choosing the more popular sports over tennis. There are nearly 1000 MLB players, where the MINIMUM salary is $720,000/yr. By comparison, how much does the 1000th tennis player in the world make? It's not even a close comparison. These are sports that can support a full season of many games, filling stadiums night after night. I attended the US Open on day 3 this year (which had relatively good attendance!), and saw a number of matches that only had a handful of people in the stands. What tennis has going for it is that it's the ultimate lifestyle sport: highly athletic, but also fun and skill-based. A player can get enjoyment at any age and any skill level; very few sports are so athletic at the top levels, but also allow a player to age gracefully and still enjoy the competition.

[@TennisWithDennis]

The biggest threat to grassroots tennis globally is the PS5 and XBox and ironically KZbin/iPhones! Not sure how we get the kids back oncourt and make it funky for the next gens to want to take up tennis?

[@IntuitiveTennis]

True

[@shipwreck8847]

I think it's youtube and the internet in general. Video games captures a certain demographic. (Men 16-35 years old) but the internet takes women, children, old seniors. Everyone and steals their time.

[@nellatech4523]

sorry Nik. you got it all wrong. have you seen a pee wee football practice session? a baseball little league practice ? a youth basketball drills? youth soccer? compare that to an afternoon tennis NJTL session. the frustrations are quite evident for those kids who are struggling to learn how to control a tennis ball with a racquet vs those who are just running on the field, tackling, catching, kicking etc. TENNIS IS THE MOST DIFFICULT SPORT TO LEARN. btw, the couple who played on the court behind you? they spent less than 4 mins "playing." maybe they had somewhere to go, but i bet they just felt unfulfilled or not interested. why? most likely they didn't know what they were doing. you need to admit that tennis is most difficult sport to be master at a recreational level; harder than any team sport, harder than golf, harder than boxing, harder than driving a car. it doesn't matter how big, how tall, athletic or whatever, tennis is the most difficult sport to be competent in. that's why most people don't relate to tennis. that's why pickleball is growing, and tennis is dying. even if Tiafoe, Gauff, Shelton, Keys, Eubanks, any POC, or any American for that matter, wins a GS, the general interest will be transitory. the solution, there needs to be a better way of learning tennis, so it can be more relevant, truly enjoyable. how? i don't know. but for me, i like it the way it is: i don't have to wait for a court anymore 😄

[@IntuitiveTennis]

They switched to a different court

[@Ragefist666]

I think it’s not success of the team/player that gets the sport popular but the hype around the certain individuals. American basketball team for example is way worse than it was back in the Jordan era (international results)and yet it’s very popular. Another thing is money that are invested in these sports. Tennis is lacking at the lower/mid and even top level if you are ranked than 100. You have to win tournaments to earn real money, where team sports you get the salary. I think with the buzz around Shelton it can becone more popular.

[@stevenjm12]

Boxing is def not #4 in USA

[@Lucian86]

It is historically speaking...not sure now

[@stevenjm12]

@@Lucian86 not even top 10 today

[@Lucian86]

@@stevenjm12 depends on the metric used. Apparently it is the fourth most popular based on % of Americans watching it (25% of them... American Football is 75% for instance)

[@stevenjm12]

@@Lucian86 that metric is inaccurate

[@Lucian86]

@@stevenjm12 because you say so? I was surprised to find Boxing as number 4 but at the same time Boxing does draw crowds as big as entire football stadiums at some events. It's clearly very popular. At the same time it's probably not that important as other sports. Professional boxing events (big ones) are rare. Also people normally don't practice Boxing. It doesn't matter as much on people's lives

[@alexanderismail1734]

USTA has to do better at the adult recreation level to get ex Jrs to pick it back up and other ex athletes to pick it up as a lifelong sport. My city thankfully has a competitive tennis ladder where I can get a singles match at 3/3.5 level every day of the week if I wanted. Compare that to USTA with the only 1 match week / too much focus on rankings.

[@tdubbs684]

USTA or not, I think it's undeniable more ex juniors like myself have picked it back up in the last few years, been a huge resurgence since covid

[@10SMaxx-e5j]

Pickle ball is popular because it’s easy. Anyone who’s even moderately athletic can be decent at pickle ball in just a few hours. Tennis is harder and takes much more time to excel at. A good tennis player can be great at pickle ball in a much shorter period of time.

[@GGGinJe]

A very thoughtful and fairly accurate assessment. As far as pickleball goes, it fits perfectly with millions of today's American population....whatever is easier they're all in, whether it be sports or otherwise. So sad.

[@counsela9240]

All the tennis courts are now being converted to pickle ball courts. So upset.

[@alberts2208]

Gauff wins US open. Does the average sports fan in the US even know this?

[@IdontKnow-jt2oz]

Unfortunately I don’t have faith that an American will win a slam with Meddy being very tough at the hard courts, the best surface for most American, as well as Alcaraz and Sinner just being insane at all four. Even at Wimby, where we’ve had the next most success, Carlos and Jannik still are strong. (Note that all this is about after Novak retires because there’s no way any American beats him)

[@cyberjonesy]

Man do I miss Sampras, Agassi and Roddick. The big 3 rivalry has been a great era for tennis as well, even though no Americans were dominant at that time. On the women's side we've had the Williams sisters. Lately, things are shaking up a little bit because the sports has grown and the competition is getting fiercer. America still has a really bright future in tennis, it's just that once in a while, you get this raw diamond that is just a league above everyone else, and if he is not from America, people seem to complain about the situation but this is just the nature of individual sports. In tennis, you cant balance a team that is too powerful like they do with trades and drafts in hockey. You just gotta live through his legacy and hope the next prodigy comes from your country. But sports in general is a bit too political, I really dont care where the goat comes from, I just enjoy watching them play this sport with perfection

[@bchuang7516]

Roddick is the next generation to the Sampras and Agassi. The big 4 in 90s are those two plus Jim Courier and Michael Chang. I miss tennis in the 90s, and basketball too.

[@alexanderm128]

Smart way to drop a hint what to do with pickleball nonsense

[@pakchu2]

Football and team sports as a whole are dropping fast as far as participation level. There’s a difference between playability and watchability

[@Siloguy]

Are you talking viewership or participation? Boxing might get more viewers but participation is small and falling, hockey is only played in the north east for the most part.

[@IntuitiveTennis]

It’s popularity based on viewership, if we judge on participation, in high-school soccer and track are in top 5

[@bchuang7516]

Tennis is hard to learn, let alone serve. it takes time and delication. For tennis fans pickle ball is a joke, but you have to admit it is so much easier to start.

[@Sweeney-Kubach]

The fact is that the NFL, NBA, and MLB are all rigged and scripted. Tennis isn’t rigged and scripted and that’s why I still watch tennis. Tennis is the only sport that isn’t rigged and scripted, like the other sports. Lebron James is trying out for the WNBA, he is trying to break MJs record. Great job on the video my friend.

[@jimw2656]

Lacrosse should be in your top 10 and boxing maybe in at 10.

[@IntuitiveTennis]

Where would you watch Lacrosse? Never seen it on TV. My rankings are based on viewership

[@elchanclascocina]

Money wise and "equality" Tennis is no.1 for women... but, popularity wise, in the USA, I believe no.1 is basketball, no.2 is track and field. I think tennis would be close to swimming, gimnastics, even softball.

[@K4R3N]

I'm 6'1" 185lbs and stuck at 3.5 😭

[@vitaliyburlaka691]

to be fair most of us get stuck at 3.5

[@parzi7063]

The US are very focused to create heroes. Superstars who are shining out of the masses. Even in the team sports they have a need for elite players who stand above all or at least within their team. Like LeBron or Curry. They are the heroes for the patriotism, the personification they want to be. So it ends, that success is all that matters. Top 10 just isn't enough. Becker and Graf gave Germany an incredible tennis boom and when they retired it reclined. But like the Americans the Germans went for another superstar - Michael Schumacher. Not tennis, but the idol everyone loved. Tennis was and is still a much loved sport, even if its numbers dropped. Instead of the nearby heroes the three musketeers Fed, Nole and Nadal became the representation of tennis and everyone was fine with it. Now that the sun has set on them the complete tennis world is somehow levitating and waiting for the eruption of the next gen with Alcaraz looking very promising. But it's hard to step out of the shadow of the Big 3, because they dictated tennis for the last 20 years and nobody came close to their popularity. Every sport has their faces. But only the ones lifting the trophies are the ones we remind. And if your are too proud of your nationality to not acknowledge the success of other people outside your country, these aspects of sport will never have the same standing for them like other sports.

[@knotwilg3596]

As a European I don't get the feud with pickle ball. It's much more accessible than tennis so more people play it. But I can't see how it could ever grow into a spectator sport. More people walk than sprint but still we watched Usain Bolt, not 10 guys walking towards the finish line. I guess it's about courts being transformed so people who want to play tennis no longer have a place where they can? In Europe we have Padel as an equivalent of Pickleball, equally accessible and noisy. There's no feud though because there's no tradition of ubiquitous free tennis courts. We need to go to a club and pay a membership fee. The situation has hardly changed in my opinion. So that's why I don't get the US drama I guess.

[@IntuitiveTennis]

The feud is about tennis courts being destroyed, nothing else

[@info781]

Most courts in Europe (and Florida) are clay, you can not play pickle ball on clay so there is no problem with people adding lines. Florida is building many indoor pickle ball centers, but many private hard courts have been converted, anyone can learn it in a couple of hours.

[@rogerbarris8605]

I haven't seen the other videos on this subject so this may have been covered earlier, but there is no way you can talk about this subject without talking about the relative economics for the players of these sports. The economics of tennis are brutal. Take football in America. There are 32 clubs and each one can have a roster of up to 53 players - so call that at least 1,500 players in total. The minimum salary for each of these players is $795K for a rookie, stepping up to $1.65mn for a player who has been in the league for 7+ years. If you take a look at the CAREER earnings for a tennis player who has been ranked in the range of 100-150 in the world, it will be about the same amount as the YEARLY earnings for the LOWEST PAID NFL players; a tennis player ranked in the range of 1000-1500 in the world has earnings that would shame a barista. But it's even worse than this because the NFL player would have everything paid for him: his coaching, his travel, his food and his medical care (if he gets injured), whereas the GROSS earnings of an ATP player has to cover all of these things. In addition, the ATP player probably spent a lot of money on his childhood training, whereas the NFL player was probably trained at his schools' expense throughout his early life. Being a professional tennis player is like annoucing that you are going to be an actor. If you make it big, then the rewards are tremendous - Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have some of the highest net worths of any athletes in the world (in large part from endorsement deals). But just like the vast majority of "actors" end up going to a lot of casting calls before heading to their real jobs as waiters/waitresses, the vast majority of professional tennis players make peanuts. But this disparity doesn't exist internationally. In America, there are so many other sports with dramatically better economics than tennis, whereas internationally there is really only one: football ("soccer"). The incentives faced by the best American male athletes overwhelmingly point them in the direction of other sports, whereas internationally the only thing that competes with tennis is football ("soccer") (with the possible exception of golf). (PS. Things are very different for women athletes, where tennis is by far the most remunerative sport for a top-level athlete, which could be one reason why American female tennis players do relatively better than American male tennis players.)

[@kmcclarney]

Im a person who never cared about tennis...why? Becuase i never played it. Played soccer baseball and football as a kid. Why becuase they doa better jo bof getting kids playing it. Never was untroduced to tennis until junior high school but by then i didnt care. I played football. Now im an adult who started tennis at the rec level and i love it...why? Becuase played it. I love watching tennis on tv now. Tennis beggist problem is no one olays it beyond the im going to get two rackets from walmart and we will play tennis as just hitting a ball

[@Supertico-zj7sg]

I don’t like pickleball, however I’m wondering if I should make a switch. All I ever face in 3.5 even 4.0 is pushers lobbying the ball on every shot and they win every match at this level doing that crap and they get rewarded because the score doesn’t tell the real story. Maybe playing with a pickleball will keep these people from winning all the matches 🤦🏽‍♂️

[@zatosan729]

Learn how to beat a pusher then find better players. It can be hard to meet people that want to play tennis and it depends on many factors to continue playing.

[@borisgurevich5504]

All true no well argued. But I don’t see 5 Americans in the top ten. All 5 have the potential but they will be coming and going. Shelton probably has the biggest potential.

[@digitalcommunist6335]

In a ‘classical athlete’ sense, tennis player are / always have been bottom rung…Occasionally you would have people like Edberg ,Sampras, Rafter… For many reasons, multitude of circumstances , socio economics etc available pool is way smaller. I ,to put it mildly laughed when i saw Federer play football ( sport he supposedly played as kid) or Djokovic basketball. Also , out of all bball great players with superhuman athleticism MJ,Carter,Dr J, Kobe, LeBron,Ja Morant, Iverson,D Rose etc only Iverson and D Rose have any chance of making great tennis players . In any era. Rest are too big, heavy would be injured all the time. There is a reason Safin is only 6 4 + guy to ever make #1….

[@shipwreck8847]

I definitely don't agree with boxing. Boxing has been dying for years and it's been giving way to MMA. MMA is definietely higher than boxing for sure. You need to adjust your list because this isn't the year 1999. But you should also clarify the sports that people like to participate in versus the sports people actively like to watch. If it's what they like to play, football is ranked much lower. Almost nobody actually plays football.

[@666kingdrummer]

I'm not surprised, people these days just want instant gratification without having to put in the work. To me thats the only reason Pickleball even has an audience.

[@LegolasD]

boxing at 4 makes your list wrong

[@Siloguy]

I live in Canada but I agree, I've belonged to both MMA gyms and boxing gyms and tennis clubs and tennis has more participation. Now if Nick is talking viewership then that might be the case but premiere boxing matches are a rare occurrence these days.

[@petrnovak8143]

Japan had a champion winning grand slams and being number one in the world not so long ago. Naomi Osaka! She is a huge star though.

[@nsebast]

You have to really be dedicated to enjoy tennis. You need at least 2-3 years of constant practice and coaching (expensive) to at least enjoy it. Not a lot of people have that.

[@superiorkaos]

i dont agree with the best athlete statement. Tennis unlike american football or baseball and like soccer or boxing is a very technical/ skill based sport. The best athlete logic cant apply to tennis as there's so much variety, co-ordination and things to different techniques to master.

[@thanhn2001]

More prize money needs to go to lower ranked players

[@PFBruno3]

So you’re saying I need to lose 25 lbs…

[@supermuskelmann8557]

Just build new pickle ball courts instead of destroying tennis courts. A fair solution. Destroy tennis courts and enter a world of pain. Fully deserved.

[@AngloSaxonX]

Pickleball is not a sport. 😂

[@darkseid121]

Sorry, but Nick does not understand how outrageously athletic prime Lebron James was. He was basically the fastest player in the NBA at 6'9. He made NBA players look slow. I do generally agree that it appears that the optimal height is 6'1, however I think Nick is also missing out on the fact that the percentage of people that are around the 6'1 height range is much greater therefore there is a much larger pool of players. For example karlovich/Isner are probably in a pool of maybe 500 pro players at that height, while players like jokovic/federer/nadal are in a pool of 10,000 pro players at that height. So of course you're going to have much more athleticism/overall skillset when drawing from a larger pool.

[@telquel7843]

Yeah, I mean, I don't know offhand what percentage of the adult male population is 6'9 or above but I'm sure it is not a large percentage. Add to that the fact that tennis does not directly reward height the way other sports do. Add the fact that being a relatively low ranked pro tennis player isn't compensated well compared to bench players in the NBA. Add to that the access to tennis gear/facilities/coaching at an early age in most places. You end up with a very small percentage of the population. All that said, I do think the counter argument that LeBron would have been an exceptionally tennis player is even more flawed. There is legitimately no reason to believe this other than his general athleticism. And that is a massive leap. Different sports select for different attributes and abilities and while I find baseball boring AF, the ability to hit a major league fastball is very rare even among elite athletes. Being exceptional in one sport (or even a few) does not automatically mean you'd be elite in another. Life isn't a superhero movie.

[@darkseid121]

@@telquel7843 Just think about the fact that John Isner is 6'9 and was winning purely off his serve and top 10. That's basically Lebron's baseline. Now imagine imagine Isner is 2-3 times as fast. The main argument is that he would be 6'9 and have a really good serve, plus is probably one of the fastest people to have ever lived at that height. Then add the dedication it takes to play in the NBA for 20 years at a high level, leaves me with very little doubt he would be a top player. I agree not everyone is Deion Sanders, but tennis and basketball are not nearly as highly specialized as baseball, and unless you're arguing he wouldn't have the reflexes to return a pro serve or wouldn't be dedicated. I think the chance of him being a top 10 player at least is high.

[@telquel7843]

@@darkseid121 I didn't realize everyone who is 6'9 can serve like John Isner. 🙃 This is dragon ball Z logic. I suppose LeBron would also dominate hockey in your estimation? At least that's another team sport. There are so many things that need to come together to produce an elite level athlete in any sport (including luck during developmental years) that I think it's ridiculous to think that they are interchangeable. But people like to view athleticism in the same linear absolute scale as they do intelligence. People seem to imagine academic or athletic performance all comes down to your "power level". It's rather pointless though as you can't really provide any evidence for a hypothetical situation and I can't prove the negative. But I think you greatly underestimate how specialized most sports (but especially solo sports) are at the elite level. Would love to see LeBron play a championship match for 4-5 hours though. I'm guessing his tennis physique would be a little bit different than his basketball physique 😏

[@darkseid121]

@@telquel7843 What I value is elite level athleticism combined with elite level work ethic. Yes, those are tangible things and I'd say Lebron takes care his body just as well as Djokovic. I think Lebron would have been great in a lot of sports, even NFL pros like Shannon Sharpe have said he could've been a great football player. Please tell me a professional tennis player above 6'5 that doesn't have a big serve. I'm not saying if he went on a court right now his serve would be like Isner's, I'm saying if he started age 4 like all the pros. I think you undervalue the competitive drive and work ethic to be at the top of any sport, and think it's all some lottery. High level work ethic and high level athleticism is a rare combination that shouldn't be undervalued. I agree there's no way to prove anything, but I think you should watch some clips of Miami Heat Lebron cause he was super human legitimately power level one million.

[@borisgurevich5504]

When ranking sports, it is important to distinguished popularity with spectators versus participation numbers. For the latter, the ranking will be very different. Soccer may be number 1, followed by tennis. That’s men, for women maybe tennis is no 1.

[@MrChillywilly7]

Do people really think and say, LeBron could dominate tennis?😂

[@green-garden-123]

Nascar is NOT a footing/running sport, sorry

[@sassanxersi1849]

Boxing and MMA (to a lesser degree) are on the fall as long as I know. I don't know particularly about America, but I know organisers of those sports are working hard to increase the popularity. To be honest new styles in boxing are boring and I don't watch anymore (Klitchko brothers and Tyson Fury killed all the beauty out of the sport). Basketball, Baseball, Rugby, Handball and Waterpolo are the most silly sports I have ever seen. Just too boring to watch, just too meaningless to play. The day I become a king, I will remove them from the list of sports. No surprise three of them are very popular in America. As for the pickleball, I think it's not an end to the ongoing masquarade. It will pave the way for sports like Dinkyball and sheepleball in the future.

[@PrecisionPointTennis]

As a nick bollettieri protégé, nick ONLY groomed us to be Grand Slam champions. If he didn’t think we had it, he wouldn’t waste his time on us. Only Shelton has that potential but he’s not coached by nick. Hopefully he’ll read ten times the inner game of tennis and fulfil his potential

[@peterbedford2610]

Tennis became mono dimensional..I liked watching when there were different styles of play.

[@willkittwk]

Michael Jordan could not even excell in minor league baseball. Think he's more athletic than James

[@martintu]

Baseball requires different types of talents. Athletic talent applies to football and basketball more. So MJ and Lebrun should also do well in football as well. Tennis is different story

[@willkittwk]

@@martintu football and basketball doesn't require hand to eye coordination to the degree baseball does because the ball doesn't travel nearly as fast so reaction time is less. Football is running and physicality and acrobatics.

[@probablypondering1657]

Ok but Lebron is who he is because his agility and hand eye coordination at his height is otherworldly. He would instantly become the greatest athlete over 6’1 to ever play the game.

[@digitalcommunist6335]

Absolutely not. There is a reason why Safin is only 6’ 4” + guy ever to reach no1. And with surface homogenization last 20+ years , its is almost impossible. LeBron is simply to big to heavy and would be destroyed by injuries in no time….

[@ye333]

"Old" sports, such as tennis, is for people who are humble. You devote yourself to the sport to become a better human, not to feel good. That's a problem for modern people.

[@Luciene3]

Idk why people act like tennis being within the top 10 most played/watched sports out of all the sports in the world in the US is bad 😂.

[@brianconnolly4069]

Love the game but tennis was always way too full of itself (sport of kings!). Make the game scoring simple (0,1,2,3 instead of love,15,30,40) so kids and non- player TV viewers can follow it - NOPE. Color green clay blue so the action is more clear on TV- NOPE. So now the last thing any town will build is new tennis courts.

[@chrisf9156]

The only point you have is that the sport is very full of itself. Scoring isn't the issue. People do fine with American Football's incredibly odd scoring system. If you watched a green clay tournament though you are very deep in the weeds. Only one top level event even uses green clay. Red clay is used pretty widely and the ball isn't too hard to view on it. Blue clay will not ever be used again, Madrid tried it and it was a disaster. Every hardcourt event has been repainted in the last decade to improve visibility as well.

[@brianconnolly4069]

@chrisf9156 Football scoring is simple by comparison and irrelevant because it started in USA. As simple as soccer is it's taken decades and still trying to make it in USA despite its huge advantage in less injuries/liability and more understanding for kids. Tennis.. sometimes 5 sets.. or 3, duce, tie breakers (which at least have straightforward scoring), breaks, mini breaks, changeovers. All are acceptable, but the most important, game scoring, is ridiculous and would have been so easy to change. I heard somewhere it was based on the hands of a clock? ...and Madrid 2012 blue clay was pouring rain and the delicate stars at the time objected rather than keep experimenting to make the game more popular.

[@shipwreck8847]

Nikola, I played tennis for 20 years (2-3 times a week) and I just tried pickleball earlier this year. I have been playing pickleball now 90% of the time and only 10% tennis here and there. I still enjoy tennis, but the fact you can find a bunch of players to play open play and it's really a fun game that is challenging and addicting. Pickleball is going to overtake tennis. The que to play pickleball is such a long wait you can wait for 30 mins just to play one set and then you need to que up again. I don't think you understand how crazy it's becoming.

[@IntuitiveTennis]

Yes here in SE Florida always more ppl on pickle courts vs tennis

[@shipwreck8847]

@@tennishack Wow you writing the Magnacarta or something. I just read the first few sentences and I'm tired. I don't even want to respond to this crap, let alone read that.

[@ifeanyiikpegbu6465]

​@@shipwreck8847You probably gave attention deficit disorder

[@TrumpforPresident24]

Because USA they want to see some Caucasian players and maybe some African American to represent them. Not some Mexican players or Asian or Russian or mixed people living in the US to represent the USA Tennis players. Even if those mixed players that represent USA, USA don't want them to be represent as them. They want Caucasian or African American to represent the USA. Ben and Tiafoe is the USA new generation of hope and Coco too. But will the USA will support them to shine, USA need to support them. If not then that is why pickleball becomes popular for the USA. Pickleball can be play twice as much and have twice as much court for people to play.

[@ccbowers]

People who blame pickleball for tennis's perceived failures shows a tremendous lack of insight. Tennis cannot improve and grow by looking for scapegoats. Envy and entitlement seems to be driving much the pickleball hate. What other sports have this type of attitude? Maybe boxing towards MMA, especially early on. But I'm struggling to think of another example at this level. I find it embarrassing for tennis to portray this ugly attitude. Even your reaction to the vandalism early in the video was underwhelming

[@digitalcommunist6335]

MMA is a fad and no matter how bad Boxing is - and its not ,never was , its just that HW division is inferior relative to others, it will always be bigger. Its debatable if MMA is even legit sport. Tennis is simply a) worst imaginable sport for TV because you cant plan anything. Match can be 5 hours or 45 minutes. On top that surface homogenization killed variety and even casuals notice that and get bored quick….b) as a recreational sport ,or ‘the sport’ it has steep learning curve . On top it requires significant $$$, time investment to master it enough to really enjoy it. Yeah everybody has 15$ Walmart racquet that they bought to mess with friends but 1% end up buying ‘real’ stuff…. Pickleball can be picked up easy, its cheap, you can be ‘competitive’ right away etc etc etc…

[@davebeery_youtube]

Pickleball is loud! 🫨. Especially when you get multiple groups playing. Aside from tennis players being annoyed on the courts, I’ve heard that some home owners are complaining and requesting walls be built to reduce the noise in their neighborhoods.