CNBC's Alex Sherman joins 'The Exchange' live from the U.S. Open in Queens, New York, to discuss the big business of tennis.

Queens

Professional tennis continues to grow in popularity in the United States, even as American players have not dominated recent tournaments. The sport has seen a shift from the era of the 'big three'—Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic—to new stars like Carlos Alcaraz and Yannick Sinner. 

Financial success in tennis now allows top players to reinvest in their careers, hiring larger support teams and enhancing their training. The U.S. Open, held at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center, has evolved into a significant business and social event, attracting numerous sponsors and widespread attention both on and off the court.

The business of pro tennis

the exchange. The U. S. Open now in the quarterfinals section. And while this year's showing has not been a grand slam for American tennis players, tennis is popularity is still growing overall stateside. Joining me now to break it all down with those numbers included from the Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Queens, New York is CNBC's Alex Sherman. This is a plum assignment, even though it's local, but there's a lot of folks out there who would be very, very, very happy to be where you are right now. Alex Yeah, beautiful weather has been all week for the tournament. You mentioned that this has not been a great tournament for the Americans. That's not really new, at least on the men's side. It's well over 20 years now since Andy Roddick last won the tournament as an American. We went through a whole era where the big three dominated Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Djokovic still playing. He won just yesterday is back in the semifinals. But now we see a new era on men's tennis where you've got Carlos Alcaraz and Yannick Center seemingly winning every tournament. There's a theory out there that the reason we have segued from these three dominant players to these two new dominant players is that if you are a great player young and you start winning tournaments that you are winning so much money now in prize money, plus the endorsements tacked on that you're able to reinvest in your skill and in your career in a different way than all of the players below you. And that is what has maintained these few players a little bit ahead of everybody else. I asked Maria Sharapova about this theory. She was a dominant player as early as 17 years old. Take a listen to what she had to say. It's a, it's a pretty intense payroll. Um, and I think the better and, um, the bigger you are, the more flexibility you have, um, to help shape, you know, your, your team. Um, but, uh, you know, in the beginning it's usually one or two people. And, and, you know, if you have the fortune to do well, um, quite literally, you get a chance to, to hire probably six to eight, you know, full time staff. So you're seeing tennis become big business, both from the training standpoint and also sort of the ancillary social media behind it. The U. S. Open is a great example of an event that has become something bigger than just tennis. You saw I had the honey juice cocktail earlier. You look around here, it's just sponsor after sponsor. People clearly want to be here. It has become a social media event. Uh, and that transcends for both the men's tour and the women's tour.

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Breakdown