My first pro-tennis tournament

Midland, Mich. — OK, first of all, why isn’t tennis more popular?

I feel as if tennis is one of those die-hard sports that is extremely huge to those who love it, but is virtually unknown to those who don’t. Tennis is exciting, it’s great to watch in person, and the athleticism that tennis players have is considerable. It’s easy to understand, it’s fun to watch and it’s easily accessible.

I attended the Dow Corning Tennis Classic for a story about area kids seeing matches for free. The tournament has been a top stop for women’s professional tennis since 1989, and has hosted Maria Sharapova, Justine Henin and Anna Kournikova. Not to mention, the Midland Community Tennis Center is nice — Really nice. This is the kind of place you see in movies, complete with VIP rooms and hors d’oeuvres.

So why was the place empty?

Tickets during the 10 a.m. match that I attended were completely free, where the Czech Republic’s Lucie Hradecká, ranked 116 in the world, played Russia’s Ekaterina Ivanova, ranked 153 in the world.

Yet, for some reason, the only people watching were area middle-schoolers.

I understand that the match was in the morning on a Wednesday, when most people were working or in class, but still? Where are the stay-at-home moms? Where are the other schools that could easily take a field trip? Sure, it was raining outside, but the event was warm and indoors, so nix that excuse.

Just why weren’t more people there?

I’ll even take some blame for living in Midland 11 years and never attending the tournament. A lack of publicity could have to do with why the place was emptier than a bag of Cheetos after Britney Spears has at ‘em. I also had the opportunity to sit down and talk to doubles player Christina Fusano of Plymouth, Calif., and she called the event her absolute favorite tournament to go to. So where the heck were the people?!

But by the end of the match, I was actually kind of glad a lot of people weren’t there. You didn’t have to wade through the crowd like you do at football or baseball games — instead, you simply moseyed on out of the center and went home.

But with such awesome players, it’s flat-out stupid that the stands were virtually empty.

Tennis should really get the attention it deserves, and not just when Wimbledon is on.

The 2009 Dow Corning Tennis Classic runs through Sunday in Midland, Mich. Visit the tournament’s Web site for match details.