[njnetswill]

Everything has lower viewership than in 2000 because the media and entertainment landscape is vastly bigger and more diverse today.

 

[Pigeon Coop]

Everything has lower viewership than in 2000 because the media and entertainment landscape is vastly bigger and more diverse today.

yes, the sport has to get more creative in competing for people's attention

 

[Tomma17]

I don't like Sabalenka that's why I said her, just vibes

So because YOU don’t like a player, the WTA is declining? JFC, either you completely missed the OP, or you truly can’t get mad that people call you out.

 

[Tomma17]

This is a ridiculous thread. I did an attendance thread and the all wta events, Charleston & Stuttgart, were huge successes
The joint events like IW, Miami and majors set all time records.
Tennis is doing great and the majors are making $300M profit, 4 times a year
The majors should pay much more for qualies & early rounds and I blame the idiot tennis media for that. The big story before every major should be that the owners are making hundreds of millions and not paying enough to 95% of both tours
money for the rank and file in qualies should be double what it is now

I thought this was obvious. As for what I’ve been told, the WTA is actually doing quite well, and is in the best shape it’s been in over a decade. Tennis as a sport is breaking new numbers every year. The WTA hasn’t declined at all- outside of TF’s own personal preferences ^^

 

[Mangelwurzel]

I thought this was obvious. As for what I’ve been told, the WTA is actually doing quite well, and is in the best shape it’s been in over a decade. Tennis as a sport is breaking new numbers every year. The WTA hasn’t declined at all- outside of TF’s own personal preferences ^^

Isn’t it just us and bots though?

 

[Thirdserve]

Another stupid thread.

When will the mods autolock these ?

 

[cocoblush]

The real downfall started in 2017, let's be honest. We went from Serena, Sharapova, Azarenka etc. to the likes of Halep, Woz, Pliskova and all those other random GS champions.

But 2020-2025 hasn't been much better, ngl. Today, you can be a 2x GS champ and consistent top 3 player with the worst FH the tour has ever seen. That says a lot about the level today.

I wasn't even born in the 90's so I'm not gonna pretend I know anything from that era, but the level since 2017 has been waaaaay lower than the level from the late 2000's and early 2010's.

And back in the early 2010's people were saying the level on the tour back then was also rubbish. Is it really is all about nostalgia. 10-20 years from now people are going to be nostalgic for this era.

 

[Sheriff]

Yeah' this pretty much. Iga' Saba' Coco' Anise' they are all fit' fast' strong' can chase balls and smack them so hard they leave Earth's orbit.. but that’s not tennis. That’s somesort peculiar mix between baseball and 100 m running.

No, that's tennis. The players are bigger, faster and stronger. Greater athleticism is always a good evolution. I might as well say tennis in earlier eras is more like pickleball.

 

[Mangelwurzel]

No, that's tennis. The players are bigger, faster and stronger. Greater athleticism is always a good evolution. I might as well say tennis in earlier eras is more like pickleball.

No wonder pickleball is on the rise' then.

 

[wta_zuperfann]

WTA isn't on network tv as often as it was in the past. Without high priced cable tv you just don't get access to those games anymore. This and the fact that we no longer have dominant American players like the Williams sisters headlining the news while Europeans dominate, are the top reasons why people no longer are as interested in WTA.

 

[Psychologist]

Politics. Nothing else.

 

[textenfan]

WTA isn't on network tv as often as it was in the past.

This. You used to have every slam airing on network TV in the US on either NBC or CBS, starting with R1. They also used to air the finals of all the US Open Series events. Obviously a lot of that was because you had a constant flow of Americans at the very top of the sport, from Everet through the Williams sisters. Now there's just Coco and random American slam winners like Kenin and Keyes who, while talented, don't remain top players for long.

 

[larryd]

Look, we all know that WTA isn't exciting as It was back in the early 2000s with all those top Tier players like Serena, Justine, Venus, Capriati, Hingis and many others and we obviously still cherish those times fondly, but what Is the real reason behind the decline?

I see many people from time to time bring how modern day players are just content with their lifestyle, how they don't have the drive to beat the others on court (which Is a good point and the mini rivarly between Kostyuk and Sabalenka is a good example): however, i think that the focus on the serve-return dynamic that got big in the late 2000s and the homogenization of the courts are the main culprits to blame. Any thoughts?

The Williams sisters have elevated women's tennis to a level that has yet to be surpassed—a rare feat that speaks both to Serena's extraordinary greatness and to the lack of elite talent at the top of today’s game. For context: Peak 1970 Margaret Court would have overwhelmed peak 1953 Maureen Connolly. Peak 1983 Navratilova or peak 1988 Steffi Graf would have dismantled peak 1970 Court. And peak 2002 Serena Williams would have dominated either 1983 Navratilova or 1988 Graf.

Fast forward 23 years, and that same 2002 Serena would still outclass top players like Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek. As Serena declined, so too did the overall level of talent, technique, power, and athleticism at the top of the women’s game.

By contrast, the men’s game has followed a very different trajectory. A 2025 Carlos Alcaraz would likely dismantle a 2003 Roger Federer, underscoring the growing popularity and rising standards in men's tennis.

 

[QINWEN-GOAT]

Most of the top players are not marketable

two week 1000s

@ONS-GOAT

 

[ONS-GOAT]

back in the day I used to wake up at 3, 4AM to watch full match of my faves

now I dont even have interest in watching 5 min HL 🥲

 

[QINWEN-GOAT]

back in the day I used to wake up at 3, 4AM to watch full match of my faves

now I dont even have interest in watching 5 min HL 🥲

same for me

is it us or is it the HWTA

maybe we need Stacey back

 

[Sheriff]

No wonder pickleball is on the rise' then.

Is it? Despite being a massively astroturfed sport, who's watching pickleball? I'm sure it's fun to play, but does it look like a great spectator sport to you?

 

[Sheriff]

The Williams sisters have elevated women's tennis to a level that has yet to be surpassed—a rare feat that speaks both to Serena's extraordinary greatness and to the lack of elite talent at the top of today’s game. For context: Peak 1970 Margaret Court would have overwhelmed peak 1953 Maureen Connolly. Peak 1983 Navratilova or peak 1988 Steffi Graf would have dismantled peak 1970 Court. And peak 2002 Serena Williams would have dominated either 1983 Navratilova or 1988 Graf.

Fast forward 23 years, and that same 2002 Serena would still outclass top players like Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek. As Serena declined, so too did the overall level of talent, technique, power, and athleticism at the top of the women’s game.

By contrast, the men’s game has followed a very different trajectory. A 2025 Carlos Alcaraz would likely dismantle a 2003 Roger Federer, underscoring the growing popularity and rising standards in men's tennis.

Many of these claims are based on very tenuous evidence and some of them lack context. If you put Serena in a time machine and gave her a wooden racquet against Navratilova in the 80's, she's not "dominating" jackshit. It makes far more sense comparing tennis of the 21st century (2000 to 2025), to comparing the tennis of the 2000's with the entirely different conditions and equipment of earlier decades. Standards of professionalism was also vastly different in the earlier decades of the game. It doesn't mean much to say there's a bigger difference between Serena and pioneers of the pro game from previous eras, than there is between Serena and modern players.
There is also little evidence 2002 Serena would "outclass" Swiatek and Sabalenka. Serena herself raised the bar for the physicality and athleticism needed to compete at the highest level and modern greats like Swiatek and Sabalenka are products of this new bar. Watching Serena's tennis in 2002/2003, it doesn't pass my eye test that she would "outclass" Swiatek and Sabalenka today. On grass perhaps, but I'm taking Swiatek on clay all day long. Neither do I thing Alcaraz would dismantle Federer. Hell, go back to the 90's and Alcaraz would find a player like Sampras a nightmare on grass, carpet and the quick hardcourts of the time. There's no point bothering with these intergenerational comparisons, absent all the necessary context.

 

[larryd]

Many of these claims are based on very tenuous evidence and some of them lack context. If you put Serena in a time machine and gave her a wooden racquet against Navratilova in the 80's, she's not "dominating" jackshit.

Navratilova didn't play with a wooden racquet when she was at her peak in 1983-84. She had a modern racquet, which elevated her game to new heights and made her virtually unbeatable

 

[Pedro De Aramaic]

There is no 'cult'

That's what a cultist would say