One of the most well-liked individual sports in history is tennis. Tennis competitions that span generations have attracted huge audiences and have undoubtedly inspired more individuals to play the sport at all levels. How many countries play tennis worldwide, though?
Here is a condensed summary of the most significant tennis participation statistics:
Tennis is played by 87 million people globally, or roughly 1.17 percent of the world’s population, according to figures from 2019.
Tennis players are split between men and women 47:53.
In 2017, there were 3873 rated professional tennis players.
Tennis is played by 25 million individuals in Europe, 12,000 of who reside in the UK.
In the US, there are 17.84 million tennis players.
The Popularity of Tennis Around the World
Tennis has always had a global feel to it since it first became a sport. Four Grand Slams are held in four different nations, which contributes to some of that. In actuality, a prospective champion can practice wherever there is a court.
The Popularity of Tennis Around the World
Brazil and Belgium are well-liked nations in soccer, and Australia is well-liked in cricket. Baseball is king in Japan. But which nations are more well-known for their tennis? The purpose of our visit is to present you to nations where tennis is the most played sport.
This game was created in France, and England nurtured it, according to history. Since the middle of the 20th century, tennis is a sport that is played internationally. If we look at regional popularity, Australia is the first top-ranking nation.
Tennis as we know it now originated in England. The sport of modern lawn tennis was invented by British Army officer Walter Clopton Wingfield. He participated in the late 1860s lawn tennis experimentation.
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A nation’s ability to produce stars on the tour can be judged by the number of its male and female athletes who rank in the Top 100. While the men’s tour and rankings are the main emphases of this list.
The WTA players are also taken into account when a female athlete is simply too dominant. Here are some of the rankings for the nations with the greatest tennis talent worldwide.
England
The most legendary tennis venue in the world is The All-England Club. It doesn’t get much bigger than this country in tennis circles, although they haven’t recently developed as many champions as many people had hoped.
The small amount of room for tennis courts is one of England’s drawbacks. Additionally, it can be frustrating for individuals in the working class because it is an expensive sport for many players.
In addition to being pricey, purchasing equipment and balls increase in cost significantly. Even yet, Wimbledon draws huge crowds of English tennis fans since that country is the origin of the sport. Tennis is still extremely popular, especially with players like Andy Murray reviving interest among British fans.
Australia
No survey is perfect, but many contend that Australia is the tennis-maddest nation overall. Yes, it is much-liked among amateur players as well as those who watch professionals play. On the ATP and WTA tours, Australia consistently fields some of the best professional athletes.
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Australia hosts an international tennis match each year, which draws attention to the nation and is one of the key reasons the nation is so enthusiastic about the sport. Additionally, the ATP/WTA Tour is undoubtedly made better by the presence of elite athletes like Nick Kyrgios and Ashleigh Barty.
The Australian Open is one of the biggest opportunities for Australians to host international competitions, although they do not often have the chance. Every year, a large number of fans go to Melbourne to attend sporting events, filling the stadiums.
France
Everyone who enjoys tennis is familiar with the French Open and the spectators who watch the match, for better or worse. Although they occasionally treat some players a little crudely, they unabashedly promote tennis as a sport.
For more than a century, this sport has been rather popular in the nation, and it has also been able to generate some quite exceptional players. France is now experiencing a bit of a talent slump, but they are optimistic that this will soon change.
In the top 20, they always have a few exciting players who are willing to compete in any Grand Slam.
United States
In terms of professional tennis up to the last two decades, the United States has been a dominant force. The main justification for this is that, despite fierce rivalry in the United States, it has always been a fairly well-liked sport.
The reality that there are so many public tennis courts in the United States is one factor in the country’s continued popularity of the sport. This makes it easier to access the game than it would be in countries with less available space.
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Although there are many tennis courts in public parks like Cheltenham Park that are entirely free, charging a small price to use one for a while makes it much more convenient. Compared to the rest of the world, tennis equipment is also quite inexpensive in the United States.
Players can buy a beginner’s racquet and several balls at a nearby shop for a fairly affordable price. They still enjoy the sport even though they will never play at a high level. Of course, having professional-level top athletes in the sport greatly aids in success.
Spain
Eight women are listed in the Top 100, but given how dominating Spanish men have historically been, it is simple to ignore that fact. First off, nine Spaniards, or nearly 20%, are represented in the Top 50.
Then there are the risky floaters, which are typically difficult for the top players, such as Albert Montanes, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Albert Ramos, Daniel Gimeno-Traver, and Roberto Bautista Agut.
Men like David Ferrer, Feliciano Lopez, and Pablo Andujar are among those who have made significant improvements recently. Due to their expertise, players like Fernando Verdasco and Tommy Robredo understand what it’s like to be rated at the top of the field and how to play important matches.
And there are three men in the Top 20: Rafael Nadal, who doesn’t require an introduction; Nicolas Almagro, who has been consistent but hasn’t yet broken through; and David Ferrer. Spain is a tennis powerhouse that might hold the title of the top nation for a very long time.
Switzerland
Another nation where the game has seen a surge in popularity is Switzerland because of a renowned player named Roger Federer. With almost 100 ATP singles titles under his belt, he is regarded as one of the greatest tennis players in history.
Jimmy Connors, an American tennis player, was the only one with more career victories. The fact that Switzerland also developed a female tennis player of the same caliber is also surprising. At the age of just 16 years and 3 months, Martina Hingis became the first Swiss athlete to win a Grand Slam competition.
Tennis is one of the most popular sports in the nation thanks to the success of both Swiss players.
Belgium
An additional nation with a particularly long history in tennis is Belgium. The David Cup, the most prestigious international team tennis competition, was first played in 1898. In 1905, Belgium had previously participated in the championship’s fifth iteration.
Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin, two elite female tennis players, were created in Belgium more recently. For many years in the late 20th and early 21st century, both female players ruled the sport.
This undoubtedly contributed to the rise in the popularity of tennis in Belgium, a tendency that has persisted to the day.
Argentina
Only Paula Ormaechea, who is now ranked 80th in the world, is an Argentinian woman in the Top 100. However, athletes from Argentina tend to exhibit strength and talent in the men’s game.
Horacio Zeballos, Carlos Berlocq, Juan Monaco, and the up-and-coming Federico Delbonis are some of the seven players from the nation that are ranked higher than 80th in the world.
Even David Nalbandian, who has plummeted swiftly in the world rankings to around 200th, has been a fantastic player throughout the years, making it to the semifinals or higher in every Grand Slam competition.
However, Juan Martin del Potro unquestionably bears the burden and expectations of the entire nation. He has previously won a major and appears to be regaining his best form in preparation for future victories.
Global Tennis Participation Data
Tennis is a global sport, both in terms of participation and as a spectator sport. Tennis is played by 87 million individuals worldwide, according to the International Tennis Federation’s most current research from 2019 (ITF).
The ITF has set a lofty goal of increasing this number to 120 million by 2030. This translates to 1.17% of the world’s population playing tennis on occasion, as there are 87 million tennis players worldwide.
Even though just 21% of tennis coaches are female, 47% of this group is women. Tennis can only be a sport that is publicly offered if all of the required facilities are provided. According to the ITF statistics, there are 71,000 clubs that anyone can join and 489,000 authorized courts worldwide.
The ITF will undoubtedly aim to raise these numbers as they work toward their 2030 target of 120 million memberships. They will delve further into the data to collaborate with national tennis federations and governments to achieve their goal. When you start to analyze the statistics, you’ll see how predominately certain nations and regions of the world participate.
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Germany
In Germany, tennis is one of the most popular sports. The truth that there are more than 5 million players who are actively playing in the nation and more than 1.4 million of them are registered with the regional federation highlights this.
Germany had to be included in this list of nations where tennis is most popular because it is played there more than everywhere else in the globe. Undoubtedly, Steffi Graff and Boris Becker contributed much to the game’s appeal in the nation.
They rank among the most well-known tennis players the world has ever seen. At the age of 17, Boris Becker won Wimbledon, the first of his six Grand Slam titles, and instantly rose to fame.
Conclusion
Tennis is increasingly popular around the world, even if traditional tennis-playing countries like the US and Europe continue to control the sport’s top levels. Although they may not be heavily represented at the pinnacle of the sport, regions like Asia have the largest populations worldwide and the most participation.
But even so, this only represents a small portion of their entire population. Tennis is made more accessible to everyone thanks to organizations like the ITF that gather comprehensive statistics on player participation to aid in investment decisions in facilities. By 2030, there should be 120 million participants, and continents like Asia and Africa have the potential to spur this growth and make the sport truly international.
FAQ’S
According to the ITF, out of the 87 million tennis players worldwide, roughly 47% of them are female and 53% are male. According to the ITF, with about 55% of tennis players being female, North America is the only continent where there are more female tennis players than males.
In every other region, there were more men playing tennis than women. Only 21.6 percent of tennis players are female in South America, the continent with the highest male predominance in the globe.
Just over 3 million tennis players, or around 12% of the tennis players in Europe, residing in Great Britain, according to Tennis Europe’s 2018 European Tennis Report. Specifically, 3 million individuals play tennis at least four times each year. According to the 2017 LTA Annual Review, 5.4 million individuals in the UK play tennis at least once each year.
3873 professional tennis players in total were ranked on the pro tour in 2017, according to the ITF Global Tennis Report 2019. (2348 male players and 1525 female players). A total of 6382 junior players were rated in 2017, according to the ITF (3187 male players and 3195 female players).
It’s noteworthy to note that 59 nations had at least one boy or girl placed in the top 100 of the junior rankings, while 55 nations had at least one male or female player ranked inside the world’s top 100.
Tennis is unquestionably a very popular sport. In actuality, tennis is played by about 87 million people worldwide. Tennis is played by 1.17% of the world’s population. Tennis is one of the most popular individual/non-team sports in the world and one of the most viewed sports on television.
Where it matters at the collegiate and professional levels, on television, and in popular culture American tennis is in decline. Tennis is dying in the United States, which is strange considering how popular it is elsewhere in the world.
According to earlier this year’s announcements, tennis participation rose by 22% in 2020 compared to 2019. 6.78 million Of the 21.64 million Americans who claimed to have played tennis in 2017 were both new and returning players. Almost 3 million of them (2.96 million) were new gamers, a 44 percent increase from new players in 201
Ice hockey came in second, and the top ten lists were completed by handball, basketball, futsal, boxing, auto racing, volleyball, athletics, tennis, and chess. Bandy, biathlon, figure skating, weightlifting, gymnastics, wrestling, martial arts, rugby union, and skiing are further prominent sports.