Djokovic predicts future hybrid of racquet sports…and a world championship
The former world No 1 is as always keen on innovation in order to keep tennis relevant and accessible
Novak Djokovic in Miami (Zuma/PSNewz)
Novak Djokovic has suggested that a racquet sports world championship might be an interesting and fun innovation – with all the top stars from the different disciplines competing against each other and trying out new formats.
He was asked in Miami about his views on club tennis and the future of racquet sports – and as always he had a fascinating take.
“Well, I think that the future, at least on the recreational club level of the tennis clubs, will be racquet clubs, to be honest,” he said. “I think the growing popularity of pickleball in this country, but overall padel, more than pickleball globally, is so big and so vast…padel, for example, is such a great sport for recreational players who never maybe held a racquet in their hands. Easier to learn to play padel than tennis, certainly, and it’s fun, it’s social and it’s engaging.
“So I think that the future of the clubs is definitely a hybrid between all these sports. On a professional, competition level, I’m not sure. But why not? I think obviously if tennis being the king or the queen of all the racquet sports attracts the most people and attention and we have big tournaments, and padel is globally relatively, as pickleball, relatively new sport, so it’s going to be interesting to see the rise of these sports and on a professional level, see how people, whether they are interested or not to watch the tournaments, but padel has been growing very rapidly. They have had tournaments played at Roland Garros central stadium, for example, centre court, Philippe Chatrier, I saw that. So there is an interest, for sure.
“Why not? It could be fun to do, like, a little racquet sport, mixed racquet sport competition, you know. We can all try different sports and see how we do in different racquet sports.
“Plus I saw, I think everyone probably saw, that this doctor was saying that people who play racquet sports live the longest. So, yeah, definitely play the racquet sports!”
Djokovic: You do the simple math
Djokovic said at Wimbledon in 2024 that tennis was at risk at club level because it was neither accessible or affordable.
“If we don’t do something about it, as I said, globally or collectively, padel, pickleball in [the] States, they’re going to convert all the tennis clubs into padel and pickleball because it’s just more economical,” he said then.
“You have one tennis court. You can build three padel courts on one tennis court. You do the simple math. It’s just much more financially viable for an owner of a club to have those courts.”
Djokovic – like many other top tennis stars – has been seen playing padel at home, in exhibitions and guest appearances.
