How can we revive Tennis?

Contrary to what most casual tennis fans think, the sport is currently facing a severe crisis as it is plagued by one dimensionality, the disproportionate shift in balance between fitness and skill, and the declining popularity of tournaments outside the Grand Slams and the Masters events.

On the lack of versatility, who does not miss the contrasting styles of Sampras/Agassi or Borg/McEnroe of the 80s and the 90s? Due to the extreme difference in the nature of surfaces during the old days, it was virtually impossible to win the Roland Garros Wimbledon double the same year and only Bjorn Borg and Andre Agassi achieved that feat twice within a span of 20 years. As Wimbledon introduced a slower type of grass with a higher bounce at the turn of the millennium, the event became a shadow of its true identity as Serve and Volleying became a recipe for disaster on its slow courts. Not surprisingly, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer made the Roland Garros Wimbledon double from 2008 to 2010 as the naturalization of surfaces made the impossible achievement a handy task compared to previous eras. The naturalization of surfaces and making tennis slower have another devastating effect on the game, the arrival of endless error plagued matches where fitness overtakes skill and shot making. Slow surfaces make it much harder to finish a point and gave a wide advantage for overly fit players on attacking ones. Had Wimbledon been that slow in the 90s we could have probably ended up with more titles for Michael Chang than the gustiest player of all time, Pete Sampras.  It is vital to increase the variability of surfaces to promote different styles of play to make the game more attractive.Watching Djokovic and Murray grinding for 5 hours doesn’t make tennis any sexier.The purpose is to watch nice shot making and reward risk taking players who provide a real spectacle.

The repetitive matches between the top 4 players and the lack ofsurprises in Grand Slams will ultimately bore spectators and render tennis intoa 2^nd tier predictable sport. The ITF and ATP need to provide theplatform for a new Boris Becker to come. At the end of the day, we need to remember that unpredictability and surprises are the essence of popularity of tennis

By +Tarek Hegazy