Melbourne, VIC, 3 May 2019 | tennis.com.au

Tennis has been named as Australia’s seventh most participated sport/physical activity in the country.

Walking, fitness/gym, swimming, running/athletics, cycling and football (soccer) sit at the top of the latest annual data from AusPlay, the country’s largest and most comprehensive sport and physical activity survey, which was launched in 2015.

The first three years of the AusPlay survey has shown an increase in the overall number of Australians participating in sport and physical activity with Australians still making an effort to move, with recognition more needs to be done to improve the nation’s inactivity crisis.

With the success of players such as Fed Cup heroine, Miami Open winner and top-10 star Ash Barty, and rising star Alex de Minaur, ranked 27th, awareness of tennis in Australia is on the rise and these players, along with a strong coterie of Aussie men and women in the top 100, will continue to inspire both kids and adults to play at all levels.

RELATED: five Aussie women in top 100 best since 1993

“We know tennis in Australia holds a strong and consistent position when it comes to participation and we are delighted to see this reflected in the AusPlay findings,” Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said. 

“Growing the game at all levels is a priority for all of us in tennis, as is sustaining growth and innovating to create more opportunities and less barriers to participation.”

Added Tennis Australia Chief Tennis Officer Matt Dwyer: “Tennis provides many pathways to participate in the sport, whether it be through our ANZ Tennis Hot Shots program, socially with friends or through club-based competitions, so it’s gratifying to see this in the figures released.

“As one of the very few sports you can play for a lifetime, we know tennis can provide health and lifestyle benefits to Australians of all ages. 

“Although the AusPlay figures show we are less exposed to age-related decline, we certainly aren’t resting on our laurels and recognise there’s still a lot of work to be done.

“We would like to thank our volunteers, clubs, coaches and member associations for their hard work in making the sport fun and accessible and we look forward to our ongoing partnership with them to continue to grow tennis in the community.”

It’s important to note the AusPlay report does not include any data on sports participation within schools, where tennis has a major presence. In 2017-18 tennis programs in schools reached more than 460,000 students across Australia, the majority in primary schools.

The Tennis State of Play report details include:

• Tennis is ranked in the top five sports for 5-8 year olds
• The peak participation rate was among 15-17 year olds both male and female
• Tennis has a greater percentage of adult participation in remote or very remote regions when compared to the overall Australian adult population
• Adult tennis participation is slightly skewed towards males, however participation was high among females
• Two thirds of adult participation in tennis was organised, with the majority taking place in sports clubs
• Tennis is less exposed to the age related decline in participation common to many other sports
• Adults 15 years or older who participated in tennis had a median frequency of 26 sessions per year (about once every two weeks) and a median session duration of 90 minutes
• The dominant motivation to participate in tennis was fun/enjoyment. Social reasons and physical health or fitness were also strong motivators.

To read the State of Play report in full click here.