Tennis Needs A… Whole Lot to Survive

Ahhhh, yes. Wimbledon. Since I was nine, the introductory music
announcing Wimbledon on NBC gave me the chills. Then it meant I got to
watch John McEnroe. Being a lefty, he was my idol. A few years later
that music acted as a harbinger of the U.S. national tournament summer
season. It meant flying to cities, playing on hard courts, on har-tru,
and testing new skills acquired over the winter and tested locally
during the spring. A few years later it meant the beginning of the ATP
satellite tour tournament schedule; the time all the tournaments are in
the U.S. and accruing enough point during June and July equaled a spot
in the U.S. Open qualifying draw and a chance at upset glory.

Today, that music rings hollow. Constant rains have interrupted the
world’s most prestigious tournament’s match play flow. And when the
matches are aired, there is a numbing sameness in the style of play.