Former American tennis player Nicola Gibbs thinks tennis “loves to shoot itself in the foot with its dumb rules, non-evolving rules.” Frances Tiafoe, one of the best American tennis players, told Forbes that tennis should probably relax some of its rigid rules and introduce a basketball-like style in order to reach the younger audience “I think fans should be able to come and go and move around and speak during matches.
Imagine going to a basketball game and not saying anything. Apart from retaining some tradition at Wimbledon, outside that, let’s start changing things to bring younger fans to the game,” Tiafoe told Forbes magazine.
“This.
Duh. Tennis loves to shoot itself in the foot with dumb, non-evolving rules. Maybe make an exception at Wimbledon cause ‘quiet please’ is fully the vibe there,” Gibbs tweeted. Gibbs, a former top-100 player, does not think that younger audience wants to go to a match or sporting event where they cannot get a little bit more relaxed.
“Like imagine paying to go to a sporting event to be told to shut up,” Gibbs said.
Like imagine paying to go to a sporting event to be told to shut up ð¤£ð¤£ð¤£ — Nicole Gibbs (@Gibbsyyyy) March 23, 2023
One fan didn’t agree with Gibbs, explaining how tennis and basketball were two completely different sports.
“Something about the game is a little different then basketball focus and concentration a bit different,” one person tweeted at Gibbs. Gibbs disagreed with that take, saying that “the rules groom tennis players to be soft.” “Disagree.
Only difference is tennis players are soft because the rules groom them to be,” Gibbs said.
Disagree. Only difference is tennis players are soft because the rules groom them to be ðð — Nicole Gibbs (@Gibbsyyyy) March 23, 2023
In 2016, there was a study in the United States that found that the average age of an ATP fan was 61.
According to those studies, the average age of a tennis fan has been gradually decreasing since the start of the 21st century. Because of that, some think tennis needs to modernize in order to reach the younger audience.
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