RODDICK REACTS to USTA 35 by '35 PRESS RELEASE

Excerpt from Served with Andy Roddick Episode 11 - released on 4.9.24.
Andy Roddick and Jon Wertheim discuss their thoughts on the new USTA press release that outlines their "growth strategy" to have 35 million American tennis players by 2035.
Listen to the full episode on your favorite audio platform:
Spotify: tinyurl.com/yc...
Apple Podcast: tinyurl.com/ys...
Amazon Music: tinyurl.com/4h...
iHeart Radio: tinyurl.com/3e...

[@AC-ss5oy]

i see andy hates pickleball as much as i do

[@uncletony6210]

because you both know it's killing tennis?

[@thenorthboundproject6187]

I’m a HS coach in extreme northern MI. (The U.P.) We have to drive for hours to find any USTA involvement. We need court construction and maintenance projects, summer rec programs, tennis units in school phys ed classes, training for coaches, officials for our team tournaments… Growing the game, it’s like “diet and exercise,” everyone knows what needs to be done. It’s just more glamorous to throw money at the flagship tennis center and the next little phenom coming up. Always been skeptical of the USTA. Everything we do up here we do somehow on our own. I would never recommend any player pay dues to the USTA.

[@olivertwist227]

We can't even get all the current kids playing tournaments into the tournaments themselves. The waitlists in my section are insane. Draws of 8-12 in the lower-level tournaments with 20-30 kids listed as alternates. I couldn't imagine adding millions of kids to that problem. Also, the next Lebron James of American men's tennis will come from his parent or local pro training him...not the USTA.

[@rodrod959]

The USTA is sitting on a $234 million windfall from the sale of the Cincinnati Master’s 1000 event. For perspective, that’s about half of the revenue it generates annually. The problem is their debt. They borrowed a ton, and spent a ton. They overpaid for Lake Nona, and they spend like kids in a candy store. They spend $70 million on payroll for a 14-day event, and viewership isn’t getting any better. There needs to be a culture shift at the USTA. DEI programs, (multiple) million dollar pay packages, and $15 MILLION on lodging for employees is quite obsessive for an organization (that doesn’t pay income taxes) as such. They have a monopoly with the US Open, and it’s run like an old boys club. And their (regional) customer service sucks.

[@chriscurley]

Not really sure what your point about DEI programs is? Which programs are you talking about and why are they bad?

[@ViaticalTree]

Since Jon is a fixture of the podcast you definitely need to get him set up with better audio capture. At the very least a decent mic and either a better room or some sound treatment to the reverby room he’s in. PLEASE!

[@jonathanchen1026]

If you take a player who only plays pickleball vs a player who only plays tennis and have them play each other in the other sport, I guarantee that the tennis player will have a closer match in Pickleball vs the pickleball player, than the Pickleball player having a close match with the tennis player in tennis 😎😂

[@1gendreemer]

I love the hate for pickleball. LOL! ( At least as it pertains to any resulting detriment to tennis)

[@prytaneumfilms]

Use the tools at hand! Partner with the university tennis programs as your local "hot zones" ... you have west coast with Stanford / Cal / UCLA / USC ... you got the east coast with UMiami / South Carolina / UNC ... Midwest? Yep! UT / Oklahoma / Baylor ... the growth infrastructure is already there - use it!

[@Deepggggg]

Make the sport financially feasible for lower division players as well. Look at people like karue (mytennishq) and stuff, Karue hadls to do KZbin, coaching and stuff to be able to play.

[@Savagetennis]

Hey guys, I spent 30 years volunteering for usta. They have tried to grow the game so many times. Fact is: just 6% gets to communities and 94 % goes to paid people. And the accountability just isn't there. They use member money and tournament money like our u.s. gov. uses our taxes. They aren't good doing it

[@georgeaxle007]

Having Challengers and futures tournaments all year long in Orlando makes a ton of sense.

[@gregwickstrom5479]

Andy's idea is good. Have training/challenger tournaments in LA, Texas and Florida where there's facilities that could support the 25 challenger tournament concept. Player development needs to be rethought, not defunded.

[@rodrigo1468]

The problem with american tennis is college tennis. The players dont grow beyond it because they play a perpetual "davis-esque" roundabout, with no real development on gameplay, just hard-hitting and screaming. Go back to the bollettieri fórmula.

[@whiteshadow6601]

The modern big beurocratic machine called USTA is much different than Bolleteri’s academy back in the 80s-90s. Seemed like a lot of tops players at some point went to Bolleteri, and their was organic competition/rivalry. Being around and competing against the best makes you better and makes you want to get better.

[@whiteshadow6601]

35 by 35 is a complete joke. Stupid PR stunt with no actual ideas

[@Savagetennis]

Andy, usta is not for profit. If they enter against for profit, then a for profit will sue eventually to stop them from competing. Usta is in a tricky spot there

[@cybernetennis]

im confused by these clips vs the real podcast... can you release these on a separate channel or something?

[@kimmketelsen1079]

Great idea using Orlando. Makes sense.

[@johnthrasher8146]

The Tennis Industry Association numbers through 2023 show 23.84 million people playing tennis in the US, and show that participation in the US for the sport has increased over 25% in five years time. In ten years time, why not? Seems like an easy goal to reach, particularly if players from the US show continued progress like they have these past several years. I'm surprised you both seem intimidated by the numbers. The one huge venue spot is not a good idea, way too isolated. Go back to the old MLB minor league formula of regional grouping as Challenger leagues over 4 to 6 geographical areas and build rivalries and end of year championships. It beats having to travel to Kazakhstan one month Northern Europe the next and Asia the following month for an opportunity of chump change.Thanks for the interesting and thought provoking segment.

[@dr.alexpoole6317]

I'm 47, and I've been involved in tennis for 37 years. I can only speak about my experience: The USTA ran the US Open and gave you a ranking when you played junior tournaments. You paid a fee to be a member, which gave you the right to play tournaments and receive a monthly magazine. Most tournaments were run by players' parents. I certainly don't have the full story, but I've not seen programs aimed to popularize tennis and/or cultivate talent. This is unfortunate because we have large areas of the country where you can play outdoors most of the year.

[@joerad4722]

Gaming hat is on... Development USTA League: * 25 events * Matches across all surface types (clay, grass, hard -- ideally both variations of hard) * have 2 divisions (elite + open) * Keep costs low by subsidizing trainer accessibility and stringers for free for all competitors * each event costs a reasonable amount (not $1000...) I have even more and would love to see USTA do something like this, but in reality... I could see Japan or another country doing this instead. USTA wants their money right where they have it, regardless of outcome.

[@OUTTAIDEAS88]

Can there be a discussion on the color of the ball and ideas of changing the court color on clay for better visibility at home for viewers? And how changing the court and ball colors would affect the players. Thanks.

[@DaleSavageAttorneyatLaw]

I played mostly on the satellite circuit and one of the reasons I came to the U.S. from Australia was to be able to stay in one country for several months to play satellite tournaments. It cut the costs of travel (plane trips, going to other countries etc.) I would have loved being able to play in one part of the U.S. and play numerous tournaments at one location. Not to mention having awesome facilities available. Lets be honest, some of the satellite tournament facilities are a little rough and ready. Multiple tournaments at Orlando does make a lot of sense and they have different surfaces.

[@virtualyme7659]

Love the conversation. I have to agree with your assessment. ☮️

[@marydean8805]

Isner…. Collins….Johnson… Shelton… Maybe the USTA needs to work alongside the NCAA… Not only would these future athletes benefit from a supportive path created by this union… They would also benefit by obtaining a college education along the way… And perhaps those who took this path as mentioned above could be involved in the planning and execution of such a program in their retirement…

[@olivertwist227]

The USTA would have to work with the NCAA to change the fact that 75% of current college players are foreign. Tennis is number 1 in foreign representation in any college sport. We need a pathway forward for American players to college instead of 25-year-old Europeans.

[@JCTennis]

We offer USTA membership promos every year and US Open ticket discounts. USTA membership might be the target. Just make a USTA membership mandatory for US Open entry. Give $35 OFF per ticket (one per member per year). Must enter at least 1 USTA tournament per year. That's a lot of data with 35M users.

[@jaykraft9523]

Andy you have hair. Lose the cap