IF NO ONE WATCHES THE US OPEN, WHAT IS NEXT? By Javier Palenque

The U.S. Open, once a symbol of tennis grandeur, now feels like a self-indulgent party for the elite—a gathering of 800,000 attendees out of a nation of 340 million. That’s less than 0.25% of the population. Yet, the USTA, with its bloated, out-of-touch inept leadership, touts this as a mark of success. They showcase clean bathrooms, pop-up food stalls, and overpriced drinks as if these are hallmarks of a thriving sport (premium experience they call it, that is like the hot dog stand at the airport claiming, the most affordable and tasteful hot dog in the city). But who are they kidding? The real numbers—the ones that matter—paint a picture of a sport in sharp decline, and the TV ratings are the loudest alarm bell.

Let’s cut to the chase: Sunday’s Jannik Sinner-Taylor Fritz US Open men’s final averaged 1.8 million viewers across ABC (1.67M) and ESPN+, down 31% from last year and the least-watched men’s final since 2020. The four-year decline is despite the event airing on broadcast television for the first time since CBS last held rights in 2014.

On Saturday, the Aryna Sabalenka-Jessica Pegula women’s final averaged 1.8 million across ESPN (1.62M) and ESPN+, down 53% from Coco Gauff’s win over Sabalenka last year and also down 10% from 2022. Viewership also took a hit in the semifinals. Friday’s all-American men’s semifinal between Fritz and Frances Tiafoe averaged 1.78 million — down from 2.26 million for Daniil Medvedev-Carlos Alcaraz last year and down from Tiafoe’s previous semifinal against Alcaraz two years ago (2.96M). Thursday’s women’s semifinals averaged 1.11 million, down 39% from last year (1.83M).

It’s a stark reminder that tennis, under the USTA’s inept chokehold, is failing to captivate a broader audience. Fritz, despite his talent, is past his prime in tennis terms—if you haven’t won a Grand Slam by 20, you’re not shaping up to be a star. That’s not just an opinion; that’s a fact. And yet, the USTA continues to peddle the lie that tennis is “growing.”

Growing? Where? In their echo chamber, where self-congratulation and denial reign supreme? Please realize these are the same people who hide sexual abuse cases and to answer the question a congressional petition was filed. Meanwhile, America tunes out. The reality is simple: tennis is suffocating under the leadership of a group of disconnected, self-serving individuals. These so-called custodians of the game are driving it into the ground, while they claim progress and diversity. The only thing growing in tennis is the USTA’s list of failures.

But there's a peculiar phenomenon at play. Coco Gauff and Frances Tiafoe—two young, Black athletes—seem to draw larger audiences. Their energy, authenticity, and success in a sport dominated by white elites offer a breath of fresh air. But it exposes an even uglier truth: tennis isn’t just elitist by design; it’s exclusionary by choice. The very people who could revitalize the sport are locked out—both from playing and from becoming fans. Why is Leticia James ignoring such facts?

The irony is suffocating. Arthur Ashe Stadium is named after a Black man who stood for inclusion, yet the sport remains one of the least diverse in the nation. The USTA loves to tout diversity when the cameras are on, but the numbers don’t lie. They talk a big game about growing tennis among minorities, yet those same board members hide when confronted with the grim reality of their failure. And when it’s time to discuss the sport’s declining viewership, they vanish—cowards, every last one of them.

Let’s call it what it is: the USTA is run by a clique of overpaid, Ol'd Klan members who are more interested in preserving their privileges than in making tennis a sport for everyone. Their actions—or lack thereof—are disgraceful. They prance around at the U.S. Open, rubbing shoulders with bankers and CEOs, while the rest of America is priced out of the sport. They’ve built an impenetrable wall around tennis, keeping it firmly in their hands, the most incapable leadership in sports. And when the sport inevitably collapses, they’ll still be there, clinging to their power and pretending they did everything right.

Who, in their right mind, would willingly endure a five-hour tennis match between foreign athletes whose names escape the average American's recognition? To those who were not raised in the cloistered bubble of a tennis family, it is nothing short of an exercise in patience bordering on torture. The USTA, in its perennial display of ineptitude, has failed to grow the sport beyond its elitist origins, rendering it inaccessible and unappealing to young people, middle-class families, and minorities. Tennis, once a revered athletic endeavor, now teeters on the edge of irrelevance, perceived as little more than a relic from a bygone era — a pastime for the wealthy and out of touch. This is not America!

If this assertion seems implausible, allow me to clarify. Consider a 65-year-old white man whose lifetime of experiences includes tennis as a cultural staple. For him, tennis is woven into the fabric of his identity, and he may well be inclined to watch a match. Now, compare this with a young adult or a child who has absolutely no cultural background in tennis. To them, the idea of sitting through a tennis match is akin to watching rice cook or paint dry. There is no emotional or cultural connection, no inherent reason to invest their time or attention. The same can be said for the business elite, who feign interest not out of passion for the sport, but because it provides a convenient venue to entertain clients on the company dime. Where else might they go? A restaurant? Too boring, Broadway? Those options are best saved for family outings.

Thus, the sheer stupidity of the USTA's leadership becomes evident. They are not merely incompetent; they are trapped in a suffocating web of ignorance and exclusion that can be argued as racism. This trifecta of failure—exclusion, idiocy, and ineptitude—conspires to drag tennis down into obscurity. One would be hard-pressed to concoct a more toxic, self-defeating combination even if they tried.

It’s time for a reckoning. The USTA has had its chance. They’ve lied about participation, they’ve lied about growth, and they’ve lied about diversity. They’ve hoarded tennis for themselves, and in doing so, they've killed the very thing they are supposed to protect, the sport. What they do is just to protect their petty jobs. So, what’s the solution?

The only path forward is to open the sport up. Strip the USTA of its nonprofit status and let someone—anyone—take over. A dictator from a Kingdom, a Russian oligarch, a corrupt billionaire—it doesn’t matter. Sell the organization to the highest bidder, take the money, and invest it where it matters: in every zip code across the country, in public parks where local coaches can teach kids to love the game. That’s how you create fans. That’s how you save a sport. You keep it alive by the investment returns.

But as it stands, nothing will change. The USTA will keep hiding, keep lying, and keep pretending that tennis is thriving. ESPN, despite hemorrhaging subscribers, will continue to shell out millions for a dying product, desperate to keep the facade alive. The board members will continue to smile for the cameras and say that tennis is growing when all evidence points to the contrary, and if confronted they will run away like honorable men.

We’ve become a laughingstock of the world—a nation that once dominated tennis now limping along, led by a group of fools clinging to outdated notions of ineptitude and exclusion. It’s embarrassing. The USTA is the Titanic, and it’s already hit the iceberg. The only question left is how long they’ll continue rearranging the deck chairs before the whole thing goes under.

The truth is clear. Tennis, as we know it, is dying. And unless someone steps up to tear down the USTA’s walls of incompetence, greed, and exclusion, it will continue to die—one dismal TV rating at a time. No matter what the USTA tells you. Understand that the sport is hijacked by people who are so inept that they have ruined the sport with money. This is hard to do, yet they did it.

I SAY NO TO INEPTITUDE AND YES TO GROWING THE GAME

I can be reached at jpalenque@yahoo.com

PS. For every day that the Klan members stay, fixing tennis becomes more and more expensive to fix. A five-year-old can tell you that, but the USTA board still will not listen much less act. We are doomed.