Another sign that tennis popularity is in a decline happened this week as Tennis Magazine announced it will not continue its print editions into 2023.
The magazine which began in Chicago in 1965 will produce a final November/December issue.
Tennis Magazine will end after 57 years however the magazine’s web site will continue.
It’s yet another concerning evidence that the sport is being threatened and surpassed by pickleball, the fastest growing sport in America.
I was a freelance contributor to Tennis for over a decade in the late 90s to the 2000s. Some of my most memorable contributions were a dual Biofile feature on Marcelo Rios and Nicolas Lapentti, who both answered my Biofile questions in total contrast to each other, one the perfect polite gentleman, the other more shockingly rude and obnoxious than anybody could have imagined.
Another feature I did was on a college player from upstate New York named Serena Williams, as I met one of her teammates at the US Open one year. My editor at Tennis loved the idea and we did a short story about the other Serena Williams tennis player.
Tennis Magazine’s Steve Tignor also kindly called my Facing Federer book “addictive reading.”
The most memorable stories I remember from Tennis were the classic on Al Parker the amazing junior who Jim Courier said if you saw he was in your draw, you just knew it was over and you started looking at the next tournament. And the jail in California which instituted a tennis program for inmates and how tennis affected their self-esteem and character.
The magazine was a blast in it’s heyday but the quality of content in recent years seemed to deteriorate… very few interesting articles about the most compelling, intriguing and fascinating sport and athletes in the world. Most of the content seemed promotional propaganda for sponsors.
I was shocked a couple of times when readers of tennis-prose.com actually commented here that they preferred to read this site than Tennis Magazine or the tennis.com site. Thank you again for that high praise.
So good bye Tennis Magazine, you did a great job for the sport for over five decades and should be proud, hope there is still some more great features in the future.
catherine · October 22, 2022 at 1:55 pm
‘Tennis Magazine’ once owned us. It was run from a woodyard in Bermondsey, South London. I was a very small cog in the machine.
Unfortunately the NYT magazine division decided we weren’t worth the money and closed us down. So we started up again near Buckingham Palace. No internet then and by the 90s the magazine was long gone. Good times though. We had a staff of two.
Scoop Malinowski · October 22, 2022 at 2:24 pm
Catherine, what was the name of your magazine? I always felt Tennis Magazine always came in a distant second to Tennis Week magazine run by the late great Eugene L. Scott, Tennis Week was by far the best American tennis magazine. There was no comparing the two.
catherine · October 22, 2022 at 3:21 pm
It’s a long story – but briefly the NYT bought the tennis magazine out of Chicago and added it to its magazine stable which focussed on golf. There was a hope that the tennis boom would bring in a lot of money although this didn’t really happen. The NYT then branched out in Britain, and although the Golf mag did ok the tennis one didn’t. In the end Golf was closed as well and I believe the whole magazine division.
Meanwhile, ‘Tennis’ was reborn by a British magazine business man, called ‘Tennis’ (no copyright on names) and carried on until the beginning of the ’90s. I had left by then. I used to read ‘World Tennis’, Gladys Heldman’s magazine, until she sold it, and also Gene Scott’s Tennis Week. (I think I told you I interviewed him once.)
Bells have tolled for tennis before but it’s always survived. It’s just a better game than all the other fly-by-night enthusiasms.
Scoop Malinowski · October 22, 2022 at 6:31 pm
Catherine Bell was that bell have tolled pun intended? ) But it’s hard to produce an original, interesting magazine about it as most tend to focus on overcoverage of the same subjects and players instead of the really interesting stories and personalities. I think a reason why this site is popular, though more of a cult following type popular is I’m off the beaten path and fans appreciate it.
Sam · October 22, 2022 at 11:26 pm
Some of my most memorable contributions were a dual Biofile feature on Marcelo Rios and Nicolas Lapentti, who both answered my Biofile questions in total contrast to each other, one the perfect polite gentleman
Okay, Scoop, please tell us—which one was the polite gentleman? 🙂
My editor at Tennis loved the idea and we did a short story about the other Serena Williams tennis player.
There’s another Serena Williams who plays tennis? Seriously?? 😮 Well, at least the odds are probably overwhelming that this one’s actually a woman!! 🤣
catherine · October 23, 2022 at 6:54 am
Another thing – I’ve noticed that tennis websites struggle to attract sensible and interesting comments. I would blame the Twitterati for this and also the bother of moderating, which is sadly essential.
Our magazine ran a letters column which attracted so few letters that we used to make them up. I could only conclude that a) we had no readers or b) they had nothing to say.
Scoop Malinowski · October 23, 2022 at 7:20 am
Sam, yes you know who it is. And yes Serena Williams was a D3 college player back in late 90s or early 2000s, very average player though. I met her teammate who became a veterinarian. I remember she said the team drove down togehter in a van like six hours form upstate NY, they had to leave like 5 am for the one day trip.
Sam · October 23, 2022 at 7:37 am
Glad that Mr. Lapentti was so polite! 🙂
Oh, Scoop, I would like to see what this other Serena Williams looks like. Did you-all run a picture of her in the magazine? If so, is there any way for the rest of us to see it?
Scoop Malinowski · October 23, 2022 at 2:47 pm
No resemblance Sam, Yes I have the copy in my archives, would have to dig it up out of old magazine stacks, could take 5 min or 3 hours ) Lapentti actually gets along with Rios, for my Rios book Lapentti said very nice things and they were always friendly since juniors and golfing together during ATP days. Rios picked Lapentti to play exo in Chile three years ago, Rios only picks opponents he likes. Lapentti is a really nice guy whenever I interviewed him, good sportsman too. COuld have won ATP sportsmanship award.
Sam · October 24, 2022 at 6:00 am
>Yes I have the copy in my archives, would have to dig it up out of old magazine stacks, could take 5 min or 3 hours )
I don’t want to put you to any great trouble, Scoop, but if it’s ever convenient, it would definitely be cool to be able to see the feature on Serena the college player. 🙂
Anyway . . . if Rios is “shockingly rude and obnoxious,” why do you like him so much? 😉
Lapentti . . . COuld have won ATP sportsmanship award.
Not so sure about that. As we all know, that’s a fake award designed to reward whoever the establishment is currently worshiping. 😏
Scoop Malinowski · October 24, 2022 at 7:59 am
Sam, I like Rios as a player, as a person, well, as Newport Beach Tennis Club owner and McEnroe fan told me of meeting McEnroe the first time, “I wish I never met him.”
Jimmy H · October 24, 2022 at 4:15 pm
I stopped reading Tennis.com after Pete’s attacks on Djokovic’s vax stance. Discovered and hooked on tennis-prose ever since
Scoop Malinowski · October 24, 2022 at 4:52 pm
Jimmy H, very happy you found this site and very grateful for your support, inspiration and kind words.
Sam · October 26, 2022 at 6:34 pm
as Newport Beach Tennis Club owner and McEnroe fan told me of meeting McEnroe the first time, “I wish I never met him.”
🤣
Jimmy H wrote:
I stopped reading Tennis.com after Pete’s attacks
Pete who? Bodo? 🤔