Gatekeeping Tennis

Tennis is a famously exclusive sport. So which forces and institutions determine who gets access? Who’s guarding the gates, and what’s the criteria for entry? In this episode, which is co-produced by Sheriece Matias Dick, we start to explore the barriers to entering tennis, the various paths into the sport, and how the gatekeeping institutions of tennis have jockeyed for power through the profound economic and cultural changes of the past 140 years. After exploring a few players’ journeys into pro tennis, we look into the founding ethos of the sport -- “gentlemanly amateurism” -- and how that obsession with status permeated the sport even as it became more accessible to working class people. Finally, we land in the present day, where the seat of power has shifted from aristocratic patrons to the corporate sponsor, with their own standards of conduct, inclusion, and ‘class.’

0:30 What is gatekeeping and how does it relate to tennis?

9:40 Various routes to becoming a pro tennis player

12:25 Comparing Tiafoe and Fritz

23:05 Tennis’ “working class champions”: various paths to the pro level

30:20 The financial barriers for kids entering tennis

36:50 Tennis as an activity for the leisure class

41:45 Code of etiquette: a surprisingly durable way to police the gate and perform class status 

48:30 The Open Era democratizes tennis, sort of

51:45 The new tennis economy: broadcasting rights, sponsorships, and the invention of the branded tennis celebrity

57:35 Connors, McEnroe, and their very American “class struggle”

65:00 From patron to sponsor