Novak Djokovic Offers Dire Warning for the Future of Tennis

Novak Djokovic says affordability and the rise of pickleball are endangering tennis.

Novak Djokovic is worried about the future of tennis. / Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Some fans might love to hate Novak Djokovic, but no one can deny he has been great for tennis. The 37-year-old is much closer to the end of his career than the beginning, and he is already worried about the future of the sport.

When speaking with the Wimbledon Press on Saturday, the 24-time Grand Slam champion expressed a dire warning for tennis at the club level. Djokovic said, "If we don't do something about it globally, they're going to convert all the tennis clubs into paddle or pickleball."

He continued, "Other than Slams, we have to figure out how to attract a young audience. Tennis, on one hand, is in a good place, but at the same time, when we look at Formula 1, for example, and what they've done in terms of marketing, in terms of growth of the sport, terms of the races around the world and how popular they are."

Djokovic pointing to F1 is a great example of the problem. F1 and tennis both had docu-series on Netflix, with the former taking off in popularity and the latter getting canceled after two seasons.

Djokovic continued, "I think we need to do a better job on our respective tours. The grand slams are always going to do well. But I think our tours need to do better."

Novak Djokovic says tennis is endangered at the club level, ‘If we don’t do something about it globally, they’re gonna convert all the tennis clubs into paddle or pickleball’

“In terms of innovation in our sport… other than Slams, we have to figure out how to attract a young… pic.twitter.com/McwtWIOLni

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) July 6, 2024

The strong history and global reach of tennis is not enough according to Djokivic. "I think one of the studies that was done by PTPA three or four years ago showed that tennis is the third or fourth most watched sport in the world along with cricket. Number one is football or soccer as you call it in the [United] States. Second is basketball. Then it's tennis and cricket. But tennis is number nine or ten on the list of all sports in terms of using its popularity, commercializing, or capitalizing on that. I think there's a huge space for growth."

Djokovic highlighted problems with the media's approach to covering tennis. "We need to grow the number of players that live from this sport. Very rarely do I see in the media that you guys are writing about the fact that you have only 350 to 400 players both men, women, singles, doubles across the board, that live from this sport on this planet. That's deeply concerning for me."

Djokovic said two of the biggest challenges facing tennis is its affordability and the emergence of paddle and pickleball. "Now we have paddle that is growing and emerging. People kind of have fun with it and say, 'Yeah, but tennis is tennis. Tennis is the king or queen of all racquet sports.' That's true. But on a club level, tennis is endangered. If we don't do something about it, globally or collectively, paddle, pickleball in the states, they're gonna convert all the tennis clubs into paddle and pickleball."

Djokovic capped off his soliloquy by adding, "You have one tennis court… you can build 3 paddle courts on one tennis court. Do the simple math. It's just much more financially viable for the owner of the club to have those courts."

The tennis legend raises some excellent points, and they are issues that the sport must address in order to survive and thrive in the future. Tennis fans can follow Sports Illustrated's Serve on SI for all the most important news from the sport.

Further Reading: Adidas and Nike have launched their new tennis apparel collections for Wimbledon.