Noah Rubin Discusses “Behind The Racquet”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/25/sports/noah-rubin-behind-the-racquet-instagram.html

I’m not sure I understand some of the things Rubin is talking about here and I certainly don’t agree with his solutions – shorter matches, shorter seasons – wouldn’t end up with the game we recognise.

As far as a decline in popularity goes – is this really the case ? Maybe in metropolitan US, where there are competing sports. I don’t know. Or too many players chasing too many tournaments. You won’t get big crowds for Challengers etc.

Don’t think Noah’s going to get many top players answering ‘really personal questions’. It’s something which appeals to the lower ranks where honesty isn’t going to result in cancelled contracts. Still, an original idea.

IMO, Rubin is a hack who complains about the tennis tour and is just trying to make a name for himself since he couldn’t on the court.

Let’s face it, a guy who has barely scraped getting into Slams and never ranked higher than No. 125 shouldn’t be trashing the sport he can’t play well enough to be a factor.

This makes tennis look stupid. You don’t see below-average players barely who play in other sports do this, like a Marco Scandella in hockey or a Shelvin Mack in the NBA. Never heard of those guys? Well there’s a reason why – they are not top stars. But you won’t see them ripping the sports they play.

I don’t know why anyone agrees to speak to Rubin. Catherine is right, it is all sour grapes and shame on the NYT for running this story

I don’t agree that Behind the Racquet makes tennis look stupid. These players have faced difficult challenges but, for the most part, have overcome them. I found their stories interesting and often moving. Tennis does have aspects that should be improved, and there is nothing wrong with the players talking about those things.

Catherine, I understand your concern, but players already get death threats towards both themselves and their families from disgruntled bettors. Some of the other things that are said are truly shocking, and I wonder if these Behind the Racquet posts can make it any worse.

Hartt – I suppose I’m being extra cautious about the potential for damage in revelations online – commenters are not just disgruntled bettors but often clearly seriously disturbed people. A year or so ago I saw some comments on the IG account of a highly ranked player which were obscene beyond belief. The comments were removed and I think the player in question could have coped with the whole business but it just seems to me an unnecessary stress in an already stressful life. The alternative, just staying off the internet, obviously wouldn’t appeal to everyone – especially sponsors and the WTA.

Mostly, Rubin’s criticisms of the game in general didn’t make much sense to me. It’s the same old story – lesser players don’t make much money because they aren’t good enough to earn it. No fiddling around with the structure of the sport can change that.

Well we can’t ban gambling since how would I make a living?

I agree with Catherine, stalkers are rampant in the tennis world and these players will probably get stalked now. Let’s hope Rubin doesn’t create a new Kvitova situation

In terms of players making $, I think the players ranked say, 100-250 should be able to make more. They are still excellent players and there is a problem when players at that level can’t make a decent living after expenses.

Tennis has not done a good job of promotion outside of the big tourneys. If some Challenger tourneys are successful, why can’t more do better? And I think the Slams should distribute more of their profits to the broader tennis community, instead of funneling so much to the federations of whatever country they are in.

No, not more $ to the ITF because I think they are totally incompetent. But more $ to Challenger prize $. There are some funds that go directly to individual players who need assistance to further their careers, and that could be increased.

Plus, the kind of fundraising that Tennis Canada is doing to raise $ for junior players. Bianca and FAA will match the $ donated up to $50,000 each. The Slams and other federations could do something similar, but with a much higher ceiling for the Slams.

Noah Rubin is far from a hack, as Jeff’s provocative but misleading comment states. He is limited by the winner-take-all bias that is common to all individual sports and by the way tennis fails to maximize its potential revenues.

(True, Rubin himself, a first-rate athlete whom I’ve talked with from time to time, is probably too small for modern tennis and is prone to tactical lapses, but that is a subject for another time.)

If Rubin were the 125th best basketball player in the world (one decent ratings system placed the up-and-coming Milwaukee Bucks point guard Malcolm Brogdon in that spot, while putting Jeff’s example, Shelvin Mack, at #315) he likely would be a starter in the NBA, with a multiyear contract, making $6-7 million per, and depending on the arc of his career might even be eligible for a max contract down the line.

The point is that even at #315, let alone #125 in basketball, people would be very interested in what he had to say…on Instagram, in social media, and so on. Even undrafted rookies aspiring to the NBA command attention on social media! If he had the gift of gab, like Kenny “the Jet” Smith, he might turn a mediocre NBA career into a virtual lifetime job in media.

The only difference here is the space that basketball occupies in sports culture and in the broader culture more generally, and of course in the purses that basketball players and tennis players compete for. Although the base of the pyramid for basketball players is much larger, reaching the cusp of the top 100 in any sport is an incredible feat.

If a thoughtful player can interest fans in the behind-the-scenes lives of players, they shouldn’t be disparaged as “losers” but applauded for their resourcefulness.

To attract fans to the sport, we should encourage many roads to Rome. Technical analyses of the forehand, tell-all’s, life in the trenches, statistical analysis, bland pronouncements from the media-savvy veterans, bring ’em all on. Compared with other sports, tennis is far behind the promotional/media curve on every front.

What the sport needs most, however, is a wholesale reorganization. Practically everyone involved in the business of tennis at any depth knows but is powerless individually to bring it about. Despite the unfairness and confusion involved in its implementation, the effort to limit the number of touring pros was a good first step.

The next phase, I would argue, would involve unleashing the forces of nationalism by separating the tour into four geographic circuits (US, Europe, Australasia, and South America), with those who rise to the top of these regional tours competing in Masters 1000 and 500 events, and with the Grand Slams retaining their all-comer status.

This would elevate the profile of players in the regions that nurture them and raise excitement about their clashes at the highest level, while curtailing the globetrotting hamster’s wheel quest for ATP points that fails to interest fans and helps curtail players’ careers through injury, financial stress, and burnout.

Opelka…sorry spell check

Harold– as an aside, as you probably know, Opelka was and is an exceptional basketball player who was given a look by Billy Donovan at Florida and who used to terrify his USTA coaches, and in particular the long-suffering Diego Moyano, by screaming “basketball” after an especially brutal lost set or match. Though relatively unathletic 7 footers are now out of fashion in the NBA– even 7′ 6″ Tacko Fall wasn’t picked in the first sixty selections of the recent draft.

But that wasn’t my point…I was saying that if tennis improved its revenue structure and organization (even to the level of the PGA Tour in golf, let alone the NBA) Rubin would be perceived as a success and could make some money along the way, and that this restructuring wouldn’t be a pipe dream. And, in the interim, that his current sideline as a interviewer is appropriate and welcome for bringing added attention to the sport.

Leif,

your point on Opelka proves my point. Opelka would logically have chosen basketball but it was easier for him to make the tennis tour despite his size. The basketball players are better than the Rubins of the world in their sport because they have a much harder hill to climb for those coveted spots.

You can’t compare team sports by numbers to individual sports since the reserves are not expected to be as good as Steph Curry or Kevin Durant and players have different attributes they bring to a team. In an individual sport, it is all about who has the better individual ability.
Thus, reaching No. 125 isn’t anything special in an individual sport. It is impressive, don’t get me wrong, but as me and Catherine are saying there is no argument for them to be paid more since no one is paying top dollar to watch Noah Rubin play tennis. I’d pay about 5 bucks to watch him play on the Challenger curcuit, matter of fact. Why he thinks he deserves a six-figure salary is beyond me.

Sorry, cont

Handball just doesn’t work on TV. Hard to get cameras right

Isner on costs of being a Tennis player

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnisner/2019/06/23/the-pro-players-costs-a-tennis-vs-basketball-comparison/

I don’t want to cut this debate short and a lot of interesting points y all but the big story in tennis now is that Monfils and Svitolina are back together.

Stay tuned for more!

The Elina and Monfils thing is already old news. Some posters say they never actually split, just went underground for a bit. 🙂

Rubin qualifies for main draw Wimbledon, take that. How about Querrey, also not showing up until this week and in the semies, and looking pretty good.

Here’s an idea. Top 8 play an exhibition 2 nights a year, all proceeds go to Challenger Tour. They all say they want to give back

The Wimby draw is out and it is unfair to Canucks! There are just 4 Canadian men in the MD, and two, FAA and Pospisil, face each other in R1. FAA has already defeated Vasek and he should be a heavy favourite against a rusty Vasek.

None of the Big 3 should have a problem in the first round. Novak has the most difficult opponent, Kohli, but I don’t expect Kohli will manage another upset against Novak. Rafa will face Sugita and Fed will play the 22-year-old Lloyd Harris of South Africa.

Someone did somewhat of a match call for Pliskova vs Bertens, and it sounded like Pliskova’s serve was working big time.

I am not a big Pospisil fan, but to be fair to him, he has had serious back problems throughout his career. He’s been off for many months, and had back surgery a few months ago.