Formation of a Macro Perspective of Competitiveness in Tennis

摘要

There are no clear measures to compare the competitiveness of one country to others in sports. Instead, there exist some indexes based on the numbers such as the ranking of the competition, win-lose percentiles, and the number of Olympic medals. The aim of this study was to examine the factors of competitiveness in tennis based on a qualitative approach and analysis. I compared two countries, Japan and the U.S., by collecting interview data from tennis-related subjects, coaches and a professional player. Data analysis indicated that diversity and justification of competition were two major factors in determining the competitiveness in tennis between the two countries. These two factors were activated in different socialization processes in the two countries.