Young players are putting up a fight against the all-time greats. What could this mean for tennis?

Rumour has it, the origins of tennis can be dated back to the 12th century. That’s a lot of rackets and balls. Fast forward to 2023, and it’s now one of the most popular sports in the world. In tennis, every swing of the racket counts. As soon as the ball is tossed into the air during the first serve, what proceeds is a captivating battle for supremacy, full of unwavering passion and sweat-dripping emotion.

Now, a new generation of players are holding their own against the all-time greats. The result of this is that the exposure and success of this sport is dramatically increasing. What is the reason for this, and what could it mean for tennis?

Break Point: A Netflix Original 

Break Point is a docudrama focused on some of the most highly-rated tennis players throughout the tennis season. Released at the start of 2023, it’s been received well by tennis fans, accumulating a score of 82% on Rotten Tomatoes.

For a docudrama to be made by such a powerhouse brand like Netflix can only elevate the popularity of the sport. What’s more, the series focuses on a lot of players that are less well-known outside of the world of tennis. It offers a glimpse of what’s to come and who fans should look out for over the coming years.

New Generation

There’s no doubt that veteran players like Novak Djokovic have a fan following that’s been with him for as long as he’s flourished in his long-standing tennis career. But in Break Point, he shares the screen with Italian player Matteo Berrettini. His nail-gripping match against Novak in the 2021 Wimbledon final is an example of just how close younger players are getting to challenging the established order.

But Novak doesn’t seem to be going anywhere soon, so his loyal fans remain close to the sport – both these situations act to bring new fans in and retain existing fans. The power of Netflix is also an effective means of spreading the work. Everyone knows what Netflix is.

To have this sport exposed to 234.8 million subscribers (many of whom may not have been previous tennis fans) will certainly help bring in new fans. And with the possibility of bringing in a larger audience of tennis fans through the appeal of new players, this could have a knock-on effect for other tennis-related media. 

New Horizons

One good example of sports-related media is online casinos. On many of these sites, casino fans have a selection of sports-related online casino games and slots like Rugby Star and Maradona. (Diego) Maradona is known as one of the greatest football players of all time, so to have a slot theme that pays homage to him is one that can surely resonate well with gamblers.

Rugby and football are sports that are internationally loved, so it’s no surprise they influenced casino slot games. But tennis is globally loved, too. Statistics show it’s becoming more popular, and as new tennis stars continue to share the spotlight with idols like Novak and Roger Federer, we may begin to see an eventual shift in tennis content, finding related slots on most online casino sites.

Source: Pexels

Conclusion

Eventually, the greats like Rafael Nadal and Djokovic will have to hang up their rackets for the last time, as Federer has done, paving the way for new players who are arguably already bringing new faces to the sport. From there, we may begin to see the popularity of tennis make its mark on industries like online casinos, just like football and rugby.