Novak Djokovic had a good day at Wimbledon this Saturday. The seven-time champion secured his place in the round of 16 after coming back from his match against Australian Alexei Popyrin (4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and 7-6 (3)), showing that he is one. among the top favorites in qualifying.
After the game, the Serbian joked to the audience, that he had doubts about England-Switzerland of the Euro Cup being played at the same time as his match. “England won, so you stayed,” he laughed.
However, Nole also had time to get serious and raise his voice to defend the future of tennis. saying that in the current context they will turn all the tennis courts into paddle tennis and pickleball because it is more economical.
Asked about his preference for five sets in the Grand Slams, the Serbian tennis player, one of the most vocal in terms of tennis demands, gave an extensive response in which he expressed his concern for the future of this sport .
“I think change is needed in our sport. We need to learn to attract young audiences. On the one hand, tennis is in a good moment, but we also have to look at Formula 1, for example, and what they have done in terms of marketing to grow their sport.”
“The Grand Slams work well, but I think the circuits need to do better. We are very lucky that it is a historic and global sport, but in one of the studies we did with the PTPA (the union created by Djokovic) showed that tennis is the third or fourth most popular sport and one of the most watched, along with cricket and only behind football and basketball. Tennis is ninth or tenth on the list of all sports in terms of usage and sales of its popularity“.
The Serbian He said there was a lot of “room to grow” and stressed that it was a “fractionated” sport. and which should increase the number of players who can earn from it.
“I rarely see you write about how 350 or 400 players, male and female, can make a living in this sport.. “I worry too much.”
“Today there is padel growing and evolving. People are happy and such, but tennis is tennis. It is the king or queen of racquet sports, and at the club level it is in danger. If we do nothing, globally or collectively, padel or pickleball tennis clubs will turn into padel or pickleball clubs, because it’s more economical.. If you have a tennis court, in that space you can have three paddle tennis courts. It’s just simple math, it’s more viable for the club owner,” admitted the winner of 24 Grand Slams.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Robert Maynard, and I am a passionate journalist with experience in sports writing. For the last few years, I have been writing for Today Times Live. My main focus has been on sports-related stories and features. With my strong background in journalism and extensive knowledge of the industry, I am able to provide readers with well-crafted pieces that are both informative and engaging.
