Tennis participation grows to more than 25M players in the US even as pickleball's popularity surges

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Tennis participation in the United States rose to 25.7 million players in 2024, the sport's fifth consecutive year of growth, the U.S. Tennis Association said Wednesday, citing an analysis of numbers drawn from two studies not yet fully released.

The jump of 1.9 million players from 2023's total of 23.8 million participants represents an 8% increase and means one in 12 Americans played tennis last year, the USTA said.

USTA CEO Lew Sherr said his group — which oversees tennis in the country and runs the annual U.S. Open Grand Slam tournament — aims to get the sport's total participants in the United States to 35 million by 2035, which he calls “a goal that is both actionable and achievable.”

To help reach it, the USTA on Wednesday pledged $10 million in grants in 2025 “to help build, refurbish and extend playable hours on courts across the United States.” That is up from last year's commitment of $1.2 million, which covered more than 500 courts open to the public.

This is all against a backdrop of the surging popularity of pickleball, which has jumped from nearly no presence in the U.S. to more than 13 million Americans over three years, with its participation figures growing more than 200% in that span.

The statistics the USTA touted Wednesday are based on the National Golf Foundation's compilation of data from two surveys that the USTA helps fund, each of 18,000 people aged 6 and over: The Physical Activity Council (PAC) Study on Sports and Physical Activity, and the PLAY study.

Other findings noted by the USTA include:

— Players under age 25 drove 45% of the growth in tennis participation last year, while those under 35 accounted for more than 60%.

— There was 26% growth among Black players and 15% among Hispanic players for tennis in 2024.

— The number of seniors playing tennis rose 17% last year.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis