World No. 1 and US Open champion Iga Swiatek speaks to CNN. (Photo courtesy of CNN)
The Grand Slam tennis tournament is well underway, and as we head toward the weekend and the Grand Slams of singles play begin, it’s becoming more and more apparent that the sport is in trouble.
The United States Tennis Association recently reported that its TV ratings declined in 2019 and that the ATP’s ratings for its three most lucrative tournaments both decreased and decreased in 2019. The U.S. Open, for example, drew 603,769 and increased from 627,000 to 683,000 over that same time. The Australian Open saw a decrease of 624,000 (from 1,006,000 to 929,000) during that time period, while the Fed Cup drew 719,666 and decreased from 1,021,000 to 747,000.
If you want to see tennis at its best, you need to look at the women’s tour.
The Grand Slam of women’s tennis began last weekend on the grass of Roehampton, with the top seeded duo of Ana Ivanovic and Katerina Siniakova taking on the 18th ranked pair of Lauren Davis and Gabriela Sabatini.
If you were watching TV or streaming live on ESPN or Tennis Channel, it wasn’t hard to pick out Siniakova, Ivanovic or either of the Davis-Sabatini pair. They were on everything, whether it be on ESPN’s SportsCenter Live or at 7:30 p.m. on the Tennis Channel’s Tennis Center Live.
The U.S. Open, which started last Monday, got underway this weekend with two matches and two Grand Slams on the women’s tour.
The Grand Slam of women’s tennis started last Monday night, with the U.S. Open, which began this weekend between Venus and Serena Williams, getting underway in New York. It was obvious from the opening night that tennis was in trouble.
As the U.S. Open began, the ESPN commentary team was quick to point out that Venus was down a set and a break in the match, which meant that the Williams sisters were ahead in the tiebreaker. That match lasted six hours and 45 minutes and saw the Williams sisters get broken by Sabatini and