Tennis has plenty of issues that need fixing if it is to continue growing, whilst also keeping its star assets happy.
After all, it’s clear that simply creating more events and increasing the prize money is not enough for the players, who are starting to push back and prioritise their own bodies over financial reward.
It’s a justifiable position for them to take, with money being no object for the world’s very best players.
However, there is another less-discussed issue for the sport that continues to get ignored, despite the fact that it is made every single year, and has already been again in 2026.
The Golden Swing has been pushed to the wayside.
Tennis neglects the Golden Swing again
The Golden Swing is a tiny period of the tennis calendar which effectively ticks the South American box, to argue that they have at least put some tournaments in that continent.
In 2026, there were ATP events in Brazil, Chile and Argentina. And that was all.
Where do you think Joao Fonseca will be ranked at the end of the 2026 season?
Just three tournaments for an entire continent, and one of the most passionate too.
South America has an estimated population of 439,665,418, which is way more than 341,784,857, which the USA reportedly had in July 2015.
And yet, there are just a measly three tournaments of note in the former, whilst America is blessed with events all over the country, amounting to nine without counting those in Canada and Mexico.
Players clearly enjoy this small portion of the calendar too, with Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal having professed their admiration for these events.
The South American tennis market has huge untapped potential
We have seen, mainly with Joao Fonseca following, just how passionate South American tennis fans can be.
They travel all over the world, from France to Dubai, in their thousands to support a teenager who has accomplished relatively little in the grand scheme of things.
| Continent | Number of ATP tournaments | Grand Slam tournaments | Percentage of the calender |
| Europe | 29 | 2 | 52% |
| North America | 11 | 1 | 20% |
| Asia | 9 | 0 | 16% |
| South America | 3 | 0 | 5% |
| Oceania | 3 | 1 | 5% |
| Africa | 1 | 0 | 2% |
Were there to be more emphasis put on creating tournaments and the sport’s biggest stars closer to them, this interest would surely only increase.
Right now, there are three events that are part of the Golden Swing, most of which are populated by relatively local players.
To tempt the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, as they have done in the past, would be huge given how his profile has skyrocketed since his last appearance in 2024.
If you could change one rule in tennis what would it be and why?
If tennis can showcase the best of its sport in these Latin American countries, they could see a massive increase in the kind of support that follows Fonseca all around the world, as well as a boost to TV viewing figures too.
J. Wayne Richmond, who ran the Americas for the ATP from 1990-2003, put it best when he said: “By having this tour, we will develop younger players. If you start to get better players out of it, you start building a TV audience.”
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