The legendary tennis player is making his way through Wimbledon without any major turbulence so far. The British player Jacob Fearnley and the Australian player Alexei Popyrin were able to take a set from him, but it didn’t have a major impact on his overall performance and in the end he won quite calmly. Now he faces his biggest challenge yet, namely the Dane Holger Rune, seeded 15th. The two men will play for a place in the quarterfinals on Monday, July 8th at an as yet undetermined time.
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Wimbledon 2024. Djokovic warns of threat to tennis
After his victorious clash with Popyrin in the third round, Novak Djokovic spoke at the post-match conference and shared some very interesting thoughts regarding the future of tennis. Interesting, but also very critical. The Serb expressed his deep concern, above all, regarding tennis at the lower, basic level.
He stated that it is very bad for the discipline when only a few hundred people worldwide can earn a living in this way. – We need to increase the number of players who can make a living from tennis. I rarely see articles in the media that draw attention to the fact that there are 350-400 such players worldwide. And that includes men’s, women’s, singles, doubles. Every single one. Tennis is a global sport loved by millions of children, but we do not make it a widely available sport. It is not profitable for many. Especially in countries like mine, where there are no strong federations or long-standing traditions – the Serb bitterly assessed.
Djokovic speaks out on the passivity of both federations. He appeals for action
The multiple Grand Slam champion said that club tennis is in danger, and if changes are not made, tennis courts will start to turn into padel courts, for example. – You can build three padel courts on one tennis court. Smaller courts are more profitable for tennis club owners. Of course, playing padel or squash can be great fun, but tennis is tennis. The king of sports that use a racket to play. Grand Slam tournaments will always cope, but what regarding the smaller ones? With the foundations? – Djokovic asked journalists.
The vice-leader of the ATP ranking also noted that tennis is currently not using its marketing potential. He also referred to Formula 1. – On the one hand, tennis is supposedly in a good place, but look at Formula 1. What they have done in terms of the development of the sport, promotion, marketing, visiting many new places. The WTA and ATP must use the potential of the discipline much better. Research shows that tennis is the third or fourth most watched sport in the world, but in terms of benefiting from this popularity, using it and commercializing it, it is only in tenth place. This cannot be – Djokovic summed up.