Powerhouse Tennis Countries
All tennis fans know that it’s been many years since former tennis powerhouse, Australia, dominated the sport. The number of players in the Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s singles main draws at Wimbledon illustrates the shift in global tennis powers.
Country Men WomenArgentina 12 2
Australia 3 4
China 0 3
France 15 10
Russia 8 17
Serbia 2 2
Spain 14 3
United States 14 11
It is not a big surprise that Russia has the most women in
the singles main draw, i.e. 17, given the number of top Russian women the past few years, but who would have expected that France would have the most men, i.e. 15, in the main draw! China made major inroads into the women’s game in the past couple years with some Grand Slam Doubles titles and Na Li reaching a Grand Slam singles quarterfinals, but injuries have hurt them this year. Serbia only has four players in the main draw, but all three, i.e., Djokovic, Jankovic and Ivanovic are seeded in the top 10. The United States and France are tied with 25 players in the Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s singles main draws. Nonetheless, given the United States' history of Grand Slam titles and Number One ranked players, there is still great concern in the U.S. about the potential paucity of future champions coming up in the ranks.
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