Is Tennis Making a Comeback? The Numbers Say Yes

For the last several years, pickleball has dominated nearly every conversation about court sports.

New courts are being built. Old tennis courts are being converted. Parks departments are trying to keep up with demand. And it would be easy to assume that all of that growth has come at the expense of tennis.

But something interesting is happening. Tennis is growing, too.

And if you’ve noticed fuller courts, more kids picking up racquets, or high school tennis programs suddenly having more players than roster spots, you’re not imagining it.

Nearly 10 Million More Americans Are Playing Tennis

According to USTA participation data, approximately 27.3 million Americans played tennis in 2025, an all-time high.

For comparison, participation was around 17.7 million in 2019. If you’re following the math, that means tennis has added nearly 10 million players since before the pandemic.

What’s particularly interesting is that this hasn’t been a one-year spike. Participation has continued to climb even as other racquet sports, namely pickleball, have exploded in popularity.

In other words, pickleball didn’t simply take players away from tennis. Instead, the entire racquet-sports category grew altogether.

Younger Players Are Part of the Growth

We’re seeing signs of that growth at the youth level as well.

High school tennis participation continues to be strong nationally, with more than 360,000 boys and girls participating in high school tennis during the 2024–25 school year.

And in some communities, the challenge is no longer convincing kids to play tennis. It’s finding enough room for everyone who wants to play.

Programs that historically had room for almost anyone interested in joining are increasingly dealing with limited court space, practice time and roster spots.

That’s a pretty good problem for the sport to have.

Pickleball May Have Actually Helped Tennis

There’s another possibility worth considering: pickleball’s incredible growth may have helped bring attention back to tennis.

Millions of Americans have been introduced (or reintroduced) to racquet sports over the past several years.

People are buying paddles and racquets. Families are heading to public courts. Cities are investing in facilities. Tennis and pickleball are showing up throughout social media and popular culture. (The Dink anyone?)

Instead of one sport replacing another, we’re increasingly seeing people play both. For parks and recreation departments, schools and private facilities, this means they have to take both sports into consideration.

Public Courts Are Becoming More Important

The resurgence creates a new challenge for communities.

For years, the question was often: “Should we convert some of our tennis courts to pickleball?”

Today, the better question may be: “Do we have enough courts for either sport?”

Public parks remain one of the most important places Americans play tennis, which means growing participation eventually translates into greater demand for usable public courts.

And many communities are trying to accommodate that growth with facilities that were built decades ago.

Cracked surfaces, faded lines, poor drainage and aging fencing become much more noticeable when courts are actually being used every day and people are voicing their complaints.

What This Means for Nebraska

We’re seeing the same trend closer to home.

The USTA Missouri Valley region, which includes Nebraska, has experienced significant tennis growth over the past several years. More people are playing, more people are trying the sport for the first time, and existing players are getting on the court more frequently.

For Nebraska communities planning parks and recreation improvements will mean that pickleball continues to grow and tennis is experiencing a resurgence.

The communities that are best positioned for the next decade may be the ones that stop treating this as an either/or decision and instead think about how their facilities can support the continued growth of both sports.

Tennis Isn’t Back. It Never Really Left.

Maybe calling it a “comeback” isn’t completely accurate.

Tennis was already one of the country’s most established recreational sports. What’s changed is the momentum around it.

More Americans are playing. Youth participation is strong. Public courts are busy. And racquet sports as a whole are having a moment unlike anything we’ve seen in decades.

For those of us who build and resurface tennis and pickleball courts (cough*Endurance Courts*cough) that’s good news.

If you’re considering resurfacing an existing court or wanting to build your own personal pickleball court or tennis court, give us a call at (402) 590-5600 or email build@endurancecourts.com.