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Tennis has had plenty of defining storytelling moments throughout its history.<\/p>\n
In years gone by, these stories were solidified at the Grand Slams and witnessed by fans who walked through the gates or watched, enthralled, on television at home.<\/p>\n
If you missed it, you could catch a highlights package or read the top stories in the newspaper the next day.<\/p>\n
Nowadays, storytelling in tennis extends beyond the matches themselves, with a huge online audience following every aspect of the sport year-round.<\/p>\n
In fact, the global online audience “dwarfs” on-site attendance, according to experienced commentator and broadcaster Peter Marcato.<\/p>\n
“You think about how many fans actually arrive on site \u2014 I think it was 1.3 or 1.4 million people \u2014 and then measure that against the global television and online audience in terms of social media engagement, that number dwarfs the 1.3 million that actually attend on site,” he told The First Serve.<\/p>\n
“So when 95 per cent of your fan engagement comes from people who aren’t going to be actually attending in person, you then need to shift your focus to those people to make sure that they’re still getting the same or similar Australian Open experience.”<\/p>\n
Listen to The First Serve Live every Monday at 8pm AEST in its 18th year on the SEN Network\/App, Australia’s only dedicated weekly tennis program on commercial radio running through till the end of November.<\/p>\n
Tournament organisers have recognised this shift in fan engagement, leading to more investment in making sure every court and every storyline can be covered. Case in point, ESPN recently introduced RedZone\u00a0at the 2026 US Open, a whip-around broadcast that jumps between courts to show the biggest moments as they happen.<\/p>\n
Marcato said this wasn’t possible in years gone by, adding that technology has made it possible.<\/p>\n
“Thirty or 40 years ago \u2014 not happening,” he said. “Now we have the technology to do that, but also it’s the vast machine behind it that can make use of technology to pick up moments that happen on court.”<\/p>\n
The result is a tennis audience that is increasingly fragmented \u2014 but also potentially much larger.<\/p>\n
Some fans still want to sit down and watch five hours of a Grand Slam epic. Others might want a 10-minute condensed version, a collection of highlights or a 30-second clip of the moment everyone is talking about.<\/p>\n
“You’re just catering to the different sections of your audience and what they’re looking for,” Marcato explained. “You try and broaden your audience that way by meeting them there rather than saying everyone has to sit and watch five hours.”<\/p>\n
That change is also reshaping what it means to tell a story.<\/p>\n
For broadcasters and commentators, Marcato believes the starting point is a commitment to doing more than simply describing what is happening on court.<\/p>\n
“The overarching one is the commitment for broadcasters \u2014 whether it’s TV, radio, online, it doesn’t matter \u2014 the willingness to want to tell the story,” he said.<\/p>\n
“And whether it’s the story of the tournament, more importantly the story of the players, I think the investment that goes on behind that is a big thing.”<\/p>\n
Technology has made it possible to follow those stories in a way that was previously unimaginable.<\/p>\n
A player can now be followed from the moment they arrive at a Grand Slam, through practice, their warm-up, the match itself and the emotional scenes afterwards.<\/p>\n
“We can watch the players arrive on site; we have the ability to watch them go and practice,” Marcato said. “We can watch them warm up before their match; we can see them walk out onto court\u2026 and then come back and see the emotion that happens backstage.”<\/p>\n
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