Looking At The Future Of Tennis

Looking at the future of tennis

At the time of the US Open most people were focusing on the players who were not going to be present rather than the ones who were actually competing at the final Grand Slam of the year.  Before the tournament took place the absence of such players as Serena Williams, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal was what was being lamented and worried out.    Owing to injuries none of these major players were competing and this would be the first time since 1997.

Obviously, this is something that the sport is going to have to deal with and get used to in the coming few years and to consider how the void is going to be filled.  There is much to consider, but turning to a Play Croco casino login will not be enough.

But as it turns out, some astonishing things have simply changed the way the sport may be viewed and played out in the future.

Unexpected victories

Tennis experts have been blown away by the events that unfolded right before their eyes in the women’s singles draw, when surprisingly Leylah Fernandez of Canada and Emma Raducanu of Britain obliterated their competition on the way to the final.

Prior to the tournament, Fernandez had won only consecutive matches on two occasions since March, before the actual tournament.  Incredibly, Leylah Fernandez, 19 years old, paved her way to the final by overcoming three of the five top seeds.

The situation with 18-year-old British player, Emma Raducanu, was even more astonishing, when she joined a select club with each of her successes in the tournament.   Since the year 1990, she has been the first female player to achieve the fourth round in her first two major appearances, and to join Kim Clijsters and Billie Jean King, in becoming only the third outside the top 100 to reach the final.

The young Raducanu has become the first qualifier to win a grand slam Singles. Raducanu became the first to win a major in only her second appearance following her ninth consecutive straight-sets victory in the tournament.  Only Monica Seles and Bianca Andreescu having done so in four attempts for their initial triumphs.

Tennis Podcast reported that “Raducanu managed to halve a record which was nearly impossible to lower in the first place.”    The achievement that will stand out the most will be the fact that Raducanu became the first player, male or female to qualify to win a Grand Slam event.   It could be that this will never be repeated but, if even it were to be repeated, there is no taking away from the feat of being the very first to qualify.

Difficult for spectators to process and even more difficult to imagine how such a young player is going to handle and even enjoy such a meteoric rise to the top.  Only a relatively short while ago Reducanu was an unknown young player.  Now she has been presented with a check for $2.5 million (£1.8 million), heard the Queen issue a statement about her performance and to learn that a major television channel reorganized their schedule in order that more than 9.2 million people would be able to watch the game.  With the popularity of Instagram, it is not surprising that Raducanu’s Instagram account has increased from about 10,000 followers prior to Wimbledon, to around 1.3 million after, and it is still growing.

Both Raducanu and Fernandez have shown remarkable poise and ability to handle the situation and the demands that it has thrown up.  It was quite something when Fernandez requested from the crowd to stop and offer a thought on the 20^th anniversary of 9/11 and it was something that made a big impression.

Fernandez said, “I know on this day it was especially hard for New York and everyone around the United States. I just want to say that I hope I can be as strong and as resilient as New York has been the past 20 years.”

In light of the focus and interest on athletes in these days, let us all hope that the composure shown by both, Raducanu and Fernandez will stand them in good stead in the future.  And this is in terms of the pressures they will undoubtedly experience off the court as well as on the court.  It was baffling to see how following Raducanu’s victory, the focus in Britain, turned into a debate concerning Raducanu’s heritage.

The future looks promising

But Raducanu form and play, has provided a wonderful endorsement of the quality of women’s tennis, not to mention how she spoke following the match.  She said “I think this final shows that the future of women’s tennis and just the depth of the game right now is so great. I think every single player in the women’s draw definitely has a shot to win any tournament.  I hope that the next generation can follow in the steps of the greatest legends – like Billie Jean King – and everyone who is at the top of the game right now.”

The future of the sport looks delightfully promising, especially in light of the fact that these two young people competing in the final, but only three years ago they met in the singles at junior Wimbledon (also won by Emma).

By the way, Iga Swiatek, the Polish player, who eliminated Raducanu and went on to win that junior Wimbledon girls draw tournament, was last year’s French Open Champion.   20-year-old Iga Swiatek was the only player on the Women’s Tennis Association Tour this year to get to the fourth round in all four of the major events.  This not only highlights her personal ability and also the depth to be found in the women’s game.

Now that the sport is in the final years of the Williams era, and the end of a time when the four players dominate men’s tennis and have done so for such a long time, it is likely that the organizers of tournaments are relieved to see the quality of women players that are emerging.   Ashleigh Barty, the present number one is only 25 and Naomi Osaka, the number two is only 23.

The women’s tournament at the US Open created huge interest in the sport.    The future of tennis looks like it is in very good hands.

Emma Raducanu · Iga Swiatek · Leylah Fernandez · US Open · WTA

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