After almost a two decade long decline in tennis participation and interest, a study by The USTA finds that the number of American playing tennis in 2009 will reach 30.1 million. That's 12% over 2008 and 25% over 2003.
This is great news for American tennis, which if you haven't noticed has been struggling. More great news is the number of Hispanics and Blacks playing the sport is going up as well. There is a good chance the next crop of great American tennis players will have minorities in it.
A couple theories i have for the growth of tennis is the moving U.S. Open coverage to ESPN2 from USA. Any sport that gets ESPN2 prime time coverage becomes a success. Look at The World Series of Poker. ESPN2 ratings were huge for the Grand Slam events, and their coverage for the most part was well done.
Another boost is what a young player like Melanie Oudin did in August and September. She became the story of this years U.S. Open and people took notice. Kids, adults, everyone was captivated by her run. Andy Roddick's epic match with Roger Federer did the same for Wimbledon.
Well, whatever the reason is for tennis' recent popularity, The USTA cannot sit around and celebrate. They need to keep doing more of what they are doing, developing players, promoting events, and grass roots efforts. It's good for everyone involved in tennis that is it healthy heading into a new decade.