‘It’s the Biggest Problem’ – 26-Year-Old American Player Explains Why Tennis Is Not Attracting the Younger Generation

Tennis is a widely popular sport and has witnessed legends emerging from various different countries. In some countries, it may not be a No.1 sport. However, it still attracts many people to watch it in the stadium or on TV. If you are a hardcore tennis fan, you will follow every bit of it. Recently, 26-year-old American tennis player, Noah Rubin, shed some light on why tennis is failing to attract the younger generation. 

Noah Rubin shares his thoughts about the younger generation not getting into tennis

Recently, the American tennis player played in the Oeiras Challenger in Portugal. After winning the first few rounds, he lost in the quarter-final of the challenger cup to Nino Serdarusic. However, after winning his second-round match, he spoke about the health of our sport at length at the press conference. 

“I just don’t think it attracts the younger generation, I think it’s the biggest problem… just little things that can help you know we talk about everybody has to be quiet. I think if you bring let’s say somebody has a eight-year-old son and they come and they make a little noise and then the chair umpire says quiet please, which they always do. I don’t think that eight-year-old ever comes back for a tennis match and then their parents never come back,” Rubin explained at the press conference. 

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Rubin opens up about scheduling in tennis

“So, we are just missing out on that so, you know in Europe maybe that kid now plays soccer instead of tennis, well football sorry… And then in the US… you know that child is going to play Basketball or you know American football instead of tennis. So, I think we lose a lot of that and it’s not exciting enough and then we talk about scheduling as well you know there’s not a lot of fix… not a lot of changes that can happen but it’s difficult I mean when I played a match today it’s Monday at you know 10 am. Nobody’s coming to watch that, you know. People are working throughout the day where you know comparing it to American football or hockey. In the U.S they always schedule it. You know you have one game it happens at 7.30 at night, Monday night, or, Sunday whatever it may be, but it’s after work,” he further explained. 

“I think there’s a lot of little things like that in tennis which makes it very tough for fans to be a part of it and to follow it and also going back to the Geographic location when I go away people are like oh my even my close friends are like oh you’re in Portugal have fun but it’s tough for them to follow. They don’t know where I’m going to next. I’m all over the world but if I was just in the US, it’s different, it’s easier to follow and I think that would be the same for a Portuguese player here. If everything was right in Portugal, a lot of the friends and family would follow I think a little bit closer,” the American tennis player ended.

What’s next for the game?

The tennis player might have a point, as he spoke very passionately about the problems in regards to fan following and scheduling in general. Maybe in the future, we could see some changes made by the governing committees. Many experts have raised issues about fans not having a chance to take a breather between matches, especially at the Majors. Recently, all the Grand Slams have jointly agreed to introduce a 10-point tiebreak rule to decide the outcome of the final set at the score of 6-6 on a trial basis over the period of 12 months. This rule change will commence at the French Open this year. Incidentally, Roland Garros was the only Major that did not feature a final set tiebreak so far. However, that is going to change this year, at least for now.

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 The move has been introduced on a trial basis to quicken up the matches. Though this change has received mixed reactions from players and fans alike, only time will tell its effectiveness.

What changes would you like to see in tennis? Let us know in the comments.