"More people will pay to see Novak Djokovic than Iga Swiatek"; "Every one of these is crap" - Fans dismiss Billie Jean King's ideas to 'change' tennis

Billie Jean King recently shared a few ideas, which, according to her, will make tennis more accessible for younger audiences if they are implemented. However, the majority of fans were dismissive of the 80-year-old's take.

There have been several discussions and debates in the recent past centered around the perceived need for tennis to evolve to appeal to more people. For instance, Patrick Mouratoglou, Serena Williams' ex-coach, has openly stated that in many respects, tennis has become stagnant and as a result, is failing to draw fresh audiences toward the sport.

Mouratoglou though, has taken action in terms of realizing his ideas to some extent through the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS). Even though the event is not sanctioned by the ATP, it has managed to grow in popularity, courtesy of several entertaining players such as Nick Kyrgios, Gael Monfils, Alexander Bublik and Ben Shelton featuring in its editions in recent times. The UTS features much shorter and typically faster matches, which are divided into quarters and not sets.

Recently, Billie Jean King, a former World No. 1, 12-time singles Major winner and the founder of the Women's Tennis Association, suggested three ways in which she would change tennis. King shared the suggestions via a short video on X (formerly Twitter). According to her, tennis would be better off with a different scoring system, numbered and named kits for players, and same number of sets played across both men's and women's tennis.

"I cannot stand the scoring. I think it makes it harder to get new people into the sport, particularly the young people. I think we should get rid of 15, 30, 40 (point) games. We should have 1, 2, 3, 4," Billie Jean King said.

"Every player should have a name and a number. Why? We need to promote our players like every other sport does. You look at basketball, football, baseball. I definitely want two out of three sets or we have to play the same amount, men and women, because you get paid by media content and women always get shorted on the content because of it," Billie Jean King concluded.

However, Billie Jean King's ideas were blatantly rejected by many fans, who poured in with their own opinions on the 80-year-old's take. According to these fans, King's suggestions have flaws and would not do much to enhance the sport even if they were to be implemented.

"Hard no for all three. Also, playing same amount of sets won't translate to equal pay. Bc the demand dictates the pay. More people will pay to see Djokovic than Swiatek. It is what it is," a fan wrote, opining that the Serb would always be tennis viewers' first choice over the Pole.

"Every one of these ideas is both crap and aimed purely at a portion of the American audience that has the attention span of a goldfish," commented another fan.

"Disagree with all three.. tennis needs to embrace its uniqueness, not try to make it like other sports," another chimed in.

There were a few fans who were still open to one or two of Billie Jean King's ideas but in vehement opposition against the others.

"Disagree with the scoring and the names. But I’d make sure players have to wear different clothing! THAT is annoying when they are in identical kit," wrote one fan.

"1. Sorry if Americans can’t understand scoring system 2. Numbers for players only work for teams sport, not individual sport + athletes would share the same number ? The number is their ranking. 3. Yes, OF COURSE," another added.

"Woah. Hard disagree on the scoring. It’s part of the magic," weighed in yet another fan.

While fans are free to agree or disagree with Billie Jean King's ideas, Novak Djokovic himself spoke up earlier this year about how tennis' existence is under threat due to the rising popularity of other racket sports.

Novak Djokovic aired views similar to Billie Jean King on tennis' dwindling appeal among younger audiences

Novak Djokovic (Source: Getty)

Former ATP World No. 1 and 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic also believes, like Billie Jean King, that tennis needs to become more popular for it to survive and thrive in the long run. After his third-round win over Alexei Popyrin at this year's Wimbledon Championships, Djokovic expressed these views.

However, the Serb came from more of an economic perspective instead of making radical changes to scoring and kits. According to Djokovic, the significant expenses associated with tennis (coaching, facilities, equipment, etc.) deter aspiring youngsters from middle and low-income backgrounds from playing the sport and pursuing it professionally.

"Tennis is a very global sport and it's loved by millions of children that pick up a racquet and want to play. But we don't make it accessible. We don't make it so affordable. Especially in countries like mine that doesn't have a strong federation, that has Grand Slam or history or big budgets," Djokovic said.

The Serb went on to opine that other racket sports such as pickleball, which are more affordable, are likely to become more attractive pursuits for youngsters whose families don't have the means to access tennis.