Who says tennis is in decline? Over the past few years, there have been growing concerns surrounding the sport as sister sports like Pickleball and Padel Tennis have been growing rapidly. With turbulent viewership figures, many believed that tennis was a sport in decline, especially in the United States. However, the viewership figures at the recently concluded US Open tell a different story altogether. And despite a massive rise in people watching the tournament, Serena Williams continues to rule that figure.

Recently, the viewership figures for the US Open finals were released. The women’s singles final saw the local hope present in the form of Amanda Anisimova, who was up against Aryna Sabalenka. As compared to the previous edition, the viewership figure grew by 33% as almost 2.4 million viewers tuned in to watch the women’s singles final. The previous finale between Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula was watched by 1.8 million viewers.

Meanwhile, Sincaraz created quite a buzz on the men’s side as Jannik Sinner was up against Carlos Alcaraz in their third Slam final of the year. Naturally, the match drew all the attention as the two best ATP players battled it out at Flushing Meadows. A whopping 3 million viewers watched the final live, which was a 76.5% increase over the previous edition’s final between Jannik Sinner and Taylor Fritz.

Although these figures are clearly growing year-by-year, they couldn’t surpass the numbers Serena Williams drew back in 2019. During that final, the American legend was up against Canada’s Bianca Andreescu, in a bid to equal Margaret Court’s 24 Grand Slam record. Although she went on to lose that encounter, an astonishing 3.7 million viewers watched that match, which was the highest figure in the past decade.

Nonetheless, the massive increase in this year’s viewership numbers strongly suggests that tennis is here to stay. And if the Sincaraz rivalry continues to flourish, as all evidence suggests, we might even see that 3.7 M viewership peak be surpassed.

All credit goes to the likes of Sinner, Alcaraz, and Sabalenka, who have enthralled tennis fans with their scintillating performances consistently tournament after tournament. Meanwhile, many legends of the sport have also addressed the challenges of tennis competing with other upcoming sports. During an interview, Novak Djokovic addressed how tennis’s popularity can be preserved.

Novak Djokovic has some strong advice for tennis governors

While the players have been working hard on and off the court, giving it their all, the onus to preserve the sport also lies with the governing bodies in tennis, like the ATP and the WTA. Continuous innovation in the sport is the need of the hour, keeping in mind the interests of the fans. Work has been done in this regard, and it can be verified from the massive US Open viewership figures. However, there is still a long way to go, and Djokovic suggested some ideas to bring tennis back to its glory days.

He said, “Tennis is a very global sport and it’s loved by millions of children that pick up a racquet and want to play. But we don’t make it accessible. We don’t make it so affordable. Especially in countries like mine that doesn’t have a strong federation, that has Grand Slam or history or big budgets. I think collectively we all have to come together and understand how to maintain the sport’s, let’s say, foundation or create a new foundation, a cornerstone of really what tennis is about, which is the base level, right, the club level.”

While the situation isn’t as bad as it was a year ago, there is still a lot of work to be done in this regard to maintain the popularity of tennis. With sports like Pickleball and Padel Tennis growing rapidly, do you think that tennis can sustain this momentum? Let us know your views in the comments below.