The year that the COVID-19 pandemic began and the four years since have been what you might call a high five for tennis in the U.S. Since those social distancing days started in 2020 and eventually segued into the everyone-can-touch-each-other-again days, the sport has been on a remarkable upswing in this country. The USTA just announced that for the fifth consecutive year tennis participation bounced even higher. Yep, apparently last year saw a 1.9 million or over eight percent increase from the estimated 23.8 million Americans who played tennis at some point in 2023 to bring the number of people who raised a racket in 2024 up to an all-time high of 25.7 million.
That would mean that last year around one in 12 people in the U.S. participated in what the 2024 U.S. Open dubbed the “World’s Healthiest Sport.” This increase has “courted” a new challenge, though: more tennis courts and facilities are needed to handle this continuing growth. But the USTA seems to be on the ball with that challenge, also just announcing a new $10 million investment into further growing such infrastructure.
“We are incredibly excited about the trajectory of the participation over five consecutive years,” remarked Lew Sherr, the USTA’s chief executive officer and executive director. “ Last year was hugely exciting not just because of the 1.9 million increase.”
These tennis participation numbers came from extrapolating the findings of two ongoing research studies. One of them, the Physical Activity Council (PAC) Study on Sports and Physical Activity, has been following the sports, recreational and fitness activities of a nationally representative panel of over a million Americans. The other, the PLAY Study (formerly known as the Participation and Engagement Study), each year has been surveying around 18,000 individuals who are 6 years of age and older.
Younger Folks Are Driving Increases In Tennis Participation
One thing you could say about these gains in tennis participation is that “the youth will be served” or perhaps “the youth be serving.” Nearly two-thirds of the growth last year came from players under 35 years of age. In fact, 45 percent of the new players in 2024 were under 25 years of age.
This is an important distinction because people tend to learn physical activity habits when they are younger. Although there are Johnny-or Joannie-come-latelies to sports, those who are physically active in their younger years are more likely to stay physically active throughout their lives. Plus, the earlier you begin participating in a sport, the longer you can reap the physical activity benefits from it.
Will increased participation in tennis then help serve as a counter to the physical inactivity epidemic that’s been gripping the U.S. for decades? The Healthy People 2020 report indicated that around 36 percent of adults in the U.S. were not engaging in any leisure-time physical activity. Data from the American Heart Association has shown that only about a quarter of high school students in America achieve at least the recommended hour a day of physical activity. And declining youth sports participation in the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic has been a significant contributor to all of this, as I have described previously in Forbes.
Well, playing tennis certainly can qualify as vigorous physical activity. Typically, you’ve got to move all of your limbs while playing. And unless you’ve got an Andy Roddick-esque serve coupled with an Iga Świątek-esque return of serve, you’ll have to move a fair amount around the court.
Moreover, Brian Vahaly, Chairman and President of the USTA Board of Directors, pointed to not only the physical health benefits but also the mental health benefits of playing tennis: “Tennis is an exceptional sport for health and for the mind. You learn failure and victory and what it takes to handle pressure as a player with no one else to blame.” Vahaly should know oh a least a little about such benefits as he was a three-time All American as a tennis player at the University of Virginia and played on the men’s pro tour for seven years, having reached a world ranking of 64.
New Players Are Sticking With Tennis
Of course, just because someone plays a sport once doesn’t mean that the person will stick with it. For example, you may happen to participate in a cheese rolling competition one time out of curiosity. But that doesn’t mean that you’ll make it a regular dairy thing. So, one the keys is determining whether the observed increases in tennis participation will indeed be maintained as net gains over time.
Well, the 2024 numbers suggest that new players have been sticking with tennis. There was a five percent jump in retention rates from what was seen in 2023. That pushed retention rates to a five-year high. At the same time, the rate of people dropping the sport was the lowest that it’s been in the last five years. This is further evidence that playing tennis wasn’t simply a pandemic fad like hoarding toilet paper.
“There’s no question that the pandemic was a huge boom,” explained Sherr. “We’re well past that. What is happening now is Americans is prioritizing health and wellness, and tennis is the world’s healthiest sport.” Tennis earned the “World’s Healthiest Sport” moniker after a study published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings found showed those who regularly played tennis lived 9.7 years longer than those who didn’t regularly play sports and this extended life expectancy exceeded that of other sports.
Of note, the number of Core players bounced up to an all-time high of 13 million, representing a 13 percent increase from 2023. This comprised half of all tennis participants in 2024. Core players are those who have played tennis at least 10 times over a 12 month period.
Tennis Participation Continues To Grow More Diverse
Then, there’s the whole looking like America thing. The U.S. is a diverse country, spanning a wide range of different races, ethnic, socioeconomic statuses, ages and other backgrounds. In the past, tennis somehow got the reputation in the U.S. of being a more upper class homogeneous sport.
But the 2024 numbers showed that such a stereotype is being put away like a Serena Williams volley. From 2023 to 2024, there was a 26 percent growth in Black/African American participation, translating to 662,000 more players, and a 15.4 percent growth in Hispanic participation, translating to 4.54 million more players. The youth weren’t the only serving too. Last year saw a 17 percent surge in senior players to bring their total to 302K.
Increased Tennis Participation Means More Tennis Courts And Facilities Needed
As mentioned earlier, in order to keep courting more players, the U.S. will need to have more tennis courts and facilities available. Many communities still lack tennis courts. Plus, one could say that the court situation is in a bit of a pickle. A number of locations have found it more economical in the short term to convert their tennis courts into pickleball courts, since you can fit up to four pickleball courts on one tennis court.
And just because a community has tennis courts doesn’t mean that they are in playable condition. The court surface has to be in good shape. The location has to be safe as well. After all, people can’t really use a court when they have to worry about lions, bears and other threats running around.
Therefore, USTA has announced that it will commit another $10 million in grants to help build and refurbish courts around the U.S. as well as extend the hours which courts can be used. Of course, tennis courts don’t grow and maintain themselves. So, part of the TVS thing is to provide expertise and training in tennis court and facility design, management and upkeep. This new $10 million will a four-fold increase in the USTA’s investment into their existing Tennis Venue Services (TVS) grant program. This program has already awarded over $19 million in grants since 2005 to bolster local tennis courts and infrastructure.
For example, last year the USTA launched the U.S. Open Legacy Initiative as part of the TVS grant program in honor Coco Gauff capturing the 2023 US Open women’s singles title. Gauff first tried the sport at public tennis facility. Therefore, for this initiative, the USTA pledged $3 million towards refurbishing public courts throughout different parts of the U.S.
“We are focused on improving player retention,” Sherr emphasized. “That comes from players having better experiences such as access to good facilities and coaches.”
Vahaly reiterated this point: “This 4x investment into facilities can help continue the momentum. The infrastructure needs to be there.” He added, “Tennis doesn’t have to be a high income sport. It can be a safe affordable option that is local.”
Time will tell if 2025 becomes a high six for tennis in the U.S. The increase in tennis participation has continued to be one of the feel good stories to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic. And if it can serve as a physical activity option for more people, it could end up making more Americans feel good.