Attendance, sales, participation say tennis is healthy

Maria Sharapova is undefeated in 2008 and seeking her second Pacific Life Open title. AP

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INDIAN WELLS, Calif. -- A trend of contradicting columns is emerging between my colleague, Jon Wertheim, and me. We disagreed with the state of Andy Roddick's game and character two weeks ago. This week, I take an opposing view on the health and state of tennis.

Jon makes some legitimate arguments regarding the diminished television coverage and media interest in professional tennis. For the first time in many years, ESPN isn't covering the Pacific Life Open here in the desert or the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Fla. next week. This is an obvious casualty of timing, considering the conflict with the ever-popular NCAA Tournament.

However, Fox Sports Net eagerly picked up the coverage, and is doing an admirable job covering the event. (OK, I'm biased -- I'm the lead analyst!) And the Los Angeles Times has featured tennis articles all week long.

March is the month the fifth- and sixth-largest events outside of the Grand Slams take place and they do deserve wide-ranging support and exposure. The Pacific Life Open has featured the top-45 ranked men in the world, and the women's field is almost as packed from top to bottom.

(The lone exception is the Williams sisters, who refuse to come back to the event after an unfortunate incident in 2001 in which they were both booed after Venus defaulted in the just minutes before her semifinal match up with younger sister Serena.)

Next week play begins in Miami, rightfully dubbed "the Fifth Slam," as it has the best conglomerate of male and female players in one venue outside of the majors. In addition, both event finals are broadcast live on CBS, giving tennis the valuable exposure it needs and deserves.

In regards to the assertion that "tennis is suffering," I have some major statistics that directly contradict those claims. A record number of 715,587 spectators rushed through the turnstiles at last year's U.S. Open.

And it isn't just one major setting attendance records, either. The '08 Australian Open smashed its previous high in attendance, as is the current event here in Indian Wells. Last year, the Pacific Life Open was the first event outside of a Grand Slam to surpass 300,000 in attendance and, this year, will attract more than 325,000 fans at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Also, let's not minimize the importance of 20,000 fans rocking Madison Square Garden earlier this month to watch an exhibition between the two greatest tennis players of all-time: Pete Sampras and Roger Federer. Tiger Woods sitting courtside and Donald Trump relegated to a second-row seat should tell you all you need to know about the importance of bringing tennis back to the Mecca of all sporting venues.

Critics could point to the success of these events as only the top echelons of tennis being healthy, but the most encouraging statistics come directly from the nuts and bolts of the tennis industry. Racket and tennis-ball sales have been on a sharp increase in the past few years, as has total play and participation in the game. Tennis is the only traditional sport to grow in participation during the past five years, a 10 percent increase, compared to the decline of other mainstream sports like football, baseball and basketball.

Tennis is a sport that deserves to be recognized and appreciated for the consortium of physical and mental skills that it takes to play at the highest levels, while also being a sport that the masses can enjoy and relate to. Tennis is moving in the right direction: upwards with a bullet.

Former ATP pro Justin Gimelstob writes on alternate Fridays for SI.com.