‘They’re Gonna Convert All Clubs Into Paddle Or Pickleball’: Novak Djokovic Worries About Tennis’ Economic Future

On being asked whether to bring in any changes to the existing format, Djokovic insisted there is no need to change the existing five setters but tennis needs to reinvent itself otherwise it will lose its spot to other racquet sports like Pickleball.

He said, “In terms of innovation in our sport… other than Slams, we have to figure out how to attract a young audience. Tennis on one hand is in a good place, but at the same time, when we look at Formula 1 for example and what they’ve done in terms of marketing, in terms of growth of the sport, in terms of the races around the world and how popular they are.

“I think we need to do a better job on our respective tours. The grand slams are always gonna do well. But I think our tours need to do better. We are lucky to be very historic and a very global sport.

“Now we have the paddle or padel that is growing and emerging. People kind of have fun with it and say, Yeah, but tennis is tennis. Tennis is the king or queen of all the racquet sports, that’s true. But on a club level, tennis is endangered.

“If we don’t do something about it, as I said, globally or collectively, paddle, pickle ball in States, they’re going to convert all the tennis clubs into paddle and pickle ball because it’s just more economical.”