Former legendary player Jimmy Connors explained how and why Carlos Alcaraz matters to the ATP Tour and its tennis product.
Sports are fun and exciting and great and all of that jazz; however, they are mostly a business. Everything that is done in sports is mostly made to make the business bigger and better. That allows bigger profits, which is what keeps the world spinning.
Players and athletes are in the middle of it, yet their interests are not always represented. We can see it right now with tennis balls discourse where the Tour faces more and more players speaking up against a change they didn't want.
What made the sport so popular over the past few decades was its 'sellers' aka. players who drew interesting. Legends like Federer, Nadal and Djokovic playing at the same time was an amazing happenstance for the ATP Tour but as they slowly fade out of the sport, we need something shiny. Enter Carlos Alcaraz, the new tennis superstar who seems destined to take over the Tour in the coming years.
In some ways, he already has, and Jimmy Connors spoke about it in a recent episode of his Advantage Connors podcast.
I like his attitude. I like it; not only the way he talks off the court but also the way he is on the court; and the way he goes at it. The way he gives it his all. I keep saying that, you know, that’s what they get paid the big bucks for. They should go out and give it their all; but he does.
And I like seeing that - those guys that are digging, getting in the dirt, getting dirty and grinding and know just what it means to be the best player in the world or to win a Major Championship; to know what it means to them personally but also to tennis in general. That helps carry the game - these young guys. They are the sellers now.
Alcaraz and Sinner are both model professionals who play the game in a very exciting way that is amazing to watch. They both take it seriously and want to be great giving their all both on and off the court and that's exactly what the ATP wants. Alcaraz is far more popular right now, but as Sinner keeps progressing he'll get there eventually.
The next generation that are coming up, that are nine, 10 years old, they look and see Alcaraz or Sinner or Medvedev or whoever you want to pick, and say, ‘I want to do that.’ That’s who I follow. I want to be like that. ennis needs guys that are doing more than just playing the game – that they are selling it too, and getting it out there to all the kids and the fans, to draw them in.
A kid like that and Sinner? You can grab on to guys like that and ride them through their whole career. That’s the fun part of it,” Jimmy Connor said. “The passion that they have for it, and they are not afraid to show you that, so like that or not, you can ride that throughout the course of their career, which only brings more people to the stands.
0 Comments