Don’t know if Dimitrov qualified as a “middleweight” but his matches against Alcaraz are entertaining
Nothing revolutionary, but it’s a well written analysis. Tennis is hard , padel and pickleball are so much easier that they can give immediate satisfaction to any newcomer. Most people just want to have fun right away, not everyone has the time/money/willpower to get good at tennis. And there’s nothing wrong about it.
Unfortunately, not many people can power through the “I’m helpless” phase, be it in training or against an opponent. Last week I lost a set 0-6 and the next 6-7. I had more fun in the first One because we both played lights out, he just finished every point slightly better. As long as I’m playing well for my level, I’m having fun. It took me a year of matches to take a set out of another guy who was way above my level, and I loved every single improvement I made during those matches. But that’s not for everyone.
Also athleticism. I’m approaching my 40s, my court coverage is gonna tank and I’m sure it will feel awful.
Yeah I haven’t reinvented the wheel, but I do think Padel will continue to grow a lot because it kind of satisfies both ends: easy for beginners, but still a lot to learn for more advanced/hungry players.
Tennis is hard and has no “fun, social, easy” analog like topgolf, go-karting etc that some other sports have. Perhaps pickle is meant to be that analog, but yeah, the rise of these variants is something for tennis to think about and try and fix in terms of “how do we make the beginner experience great”
I can’t think of any way to do that, sadly, the technical requirements are too high. At first you can’t even reliably send the ball over the net much less get in a rally. Maybe more emphasis could be put into minitennis for newcomers, but as the article says the new players would be very aware of the fact that they aren’t really playing tennis…
Link to full article here