43. GHOST TOWN

When asked to visualise the spectator area of a pro tour tennis event, I would imagine that the majority would see a grand stand packed with excited tennis enthusiasts cheering on their favourite player. But for the majority of players on the tours this couldn’t be further from the reality. A player competing on the ITF tour, the pre cursor to the WTA and ATP tours, is lucky if they get ten spectators, let alone the 100’s or even 1000’s that the top level players attract. 

So clearly one might argue that that is because the standard of play at the lower events isn’t good enough, but in reality there is a very fine line between the top, and the aspiring to be top level, players. By the time a player gets onto the WTA tour, she will have mastered the majority of the key technical elements of tennis and will be pretty good at tactics and whilst these areas can of course always be improved (even at the very top level), the area that really separates the top players from the following pack, is their mental strength and their ability to adapt mid match. So why therefore, is there the lack of perceived interest in the lower level events (the ITF Tour and the lower level WTA/ATP tournaments) – is it the standard of play, accessibility of the tournament venues, or merely a case of poor publicity in the local area?

What many people don’t realise is that the majority of the tour level events are free to watch and the players really do appreciate an audience, especially at the ‘business end’ of the week when the semi finals and finals are being played. I have been to many tournaments in the UK and the US in particular, where friends have asked how they can get tickets to watch the matches, and they are always so surprised when I tell them to just turn up and bring a chair! People generally have no idea that they can go and watch top level tennis for free (or for a very nominal sum)!

Typically, at the start of a tournament, the venues are really buzzing. There are players and coaches everywhere and people are hustling for court time. This is compounded when there are mens and womens events being staged at the same place in the same week. As the week progresses however, the venues really thin out and towards the end of the week they can be akin to a Ghost Town which is a real shame for the players that have made it to the finals. By this stage, all the other players who were in the tournament have left and are already at their next competition. All that is left are the finalists, their coaches/trainers, the tournament organisers and maybe a few sponsors, so a few spectators would be a welcome addition. It’s kind of tough on the players to play what could be their biggest match of their career to date, to an empty tennis hall!

The other thing that is tough at the ‘finals’ end of a tournament week is the fact that because all the players who have been knocked out have moved on, sometimes the finalists have no one to warm them up before their big match. As a result, the two players in a final have been known to hit with each other before their match as no other alternatives are available! Even at the Grand Slams, the tournament venues are quite soulless by the end of the week/fortnight – almost anticlimactic – which is real shame but unavoidable I guess.

So a message to tournament organisers out there, please advertise your tournaments to locals. The players would love to play to an audience and a few spectators certainly improves the atmosphere of an event and also increases awareness of the players and the game of tennis itself. Surely a win win situation?

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