"You need guys like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and now Carlos Alcaraz to carry the game" - Jimmy Connors on filling stadiums

Jimmy Connors believes that tennis needs players like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz to attract a bigger crowd and take the game forward.

On the ‘Advantage Connors’ podcast alongside his son Brett, Connors touched upon various aspects of tennis, including the power of social media. He spoke on how fans sometimes push their favorite players to perform better and how players' star power can help take the game to another level.

He said:

"Social media has made that, that has made that possible and you know for that to get into that and really you know really grab em onto the one that they like, to root them on, to cheer them on into you know to hopefully push them to the next level and it has. I am not here to say anything outside of that, how proud I am of how their game is."

The former American tennis star talked about his playing days, saying he wanted to play to make the game bigger and better. He said:

"My thoughts and activities from, you know, back when I played was to make the game bigger and better and, you know, I didn't want to play, you know, in a 1500-seat stadium. I wanted to play in bigger stadiums, in front of more people and for more money and on television and all that."

Jimmy Connors highlighted the fact that tennis needs players like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic who have been carrying the game, and younger stars like Carlos Alcaraz need to take it forward.

“Keep going back, this didn't happen by accident, you know where they are now and you need guys you know like Federer and Nadal and Djokovic that are carrying the game and now Alcaraz and some of these younger kids to come in and continue to carry the game and move it forward."

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Novak Djokovic to play doubles in build-up to US Open

Day Fourteen: The Championships - Wimbledon 2023

As Novak Djokovic prepares to play at the US Open for the first time since 2020, he has a surprise for everyone.

Having pulled out of the Toronto Masters, Novak Djokovic will now only play the Cincinnati Masters event before the final Major of the season. The Serb will not just play singles but also the doubles event at the ATP 1000 tournament, partnering up with compatriot Nikola Cacic.

Novak Djokovic and Nikola Cacic know each other well, having partnered up on two previous occasions, both for their country Serbia. But the duo will be hoping for better fortunes as they lost both matches - at the 2021 ATP Cup and at the 2022 Davis Cup.

It remains to be seen if this partnership at Cincinnati is in preparation for the Olympic Games coming up next year.