One doesn’t have to be as good as David Ferrer to reap health benefits from playing tennis
Given that the US has various negative health indicators as a population (I would check some of these boxes myself), I think the USTA and public health groups should be pushing tennis hard. Parents and grandparents who play tennis and pickle-ball will have some kids that find tennis to be interesting as well. Improving public health while growing a great sport like tennis seems like a win-win scenario.
Want To Live Longer? Take Up Tennis.
by Steven Salzberg in Forbes
A new study from Denmark, published just last week by Peter Schnohr and colleagues, shows that playing tennis may extend your life by nearly 10 years. That’s a remarkably big benefit, one that even the study authors were surprised at.
Tennis, anyone?
When it comes to heart health, there’s a lot to love about racket sports. – Harvard Heart Letter
Compared with respondents who had not done any sports, people who played racket sports (tennis, squash, or badminton) had a 56% lower risk of dying of heart disease or a stroke. Other sports that appeared to be especially good for lowering cardiovascular mortality included swimming (41%) and aerobics (36%).
Those three activities all engage both the upper and lower body in vigorous exercise, which makes the heart work harder — a possible explanation for the findings. The data also revealed that whatever activity participants chose, the more often they exercised, the lower their risk of death. Earlier studies have also linked tennis to factors associated with better heart health, such as a lower body-fat percentage, more favorable cholesterol levels, and enhanced aerobic fitness.
Study: Play Tennis, Live Longer
by Lauren Steele in Men’s Journal
New research published by the British Journal of Sports Medicine lists numerous exercises and sports that increase your life span the most. And surprisingly, racquet sports like tennis ranked high on the list. Tennis topped the list, coming in with a potential to lower your risk of death from heart disease and stroke by 56 percent just by playing the sport for a few hours each week.
Tennis Ranks Highest Among Exercises for Living Longer
by Patrick J. Kiger, AARP
Whacking balls and running around a tennis court is a fun way to spend an afternoon, but it also may have an especially important long-term benefit. Players might be adding years to their lifespans, even more so than going to the gym or taking up other sports.
That’s according to a study published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, which tracked nearly 8,600 adults in Denmark over roughly a quarter century. The subjects were part of the Copenhagen City Heart Study, an ongoing examination of the lives and health of thousands of men and women in Copenhagen. Slightly more than 1,000 of the 8,600 were sedentary, and the rest were exercisers.
The researchers found that tennis players had the biggest gains in life expectancy over sedentary individuals, adding 9.7 years to their lives. Badminton players came in second, with an average gain of 6.2 years. Those pastimes were followed by soccer (4.7 years), cycling (3.7 years), swimming (3.4 years), jogging (3.2 years) and low-intensity calisthenics (3.1 years).
Health club workouts, such as exercising on an elliptical trainer, using a treadmill or lifting weights, added just 1.5 years, the least beneficial result in the study.
Tennis Abides: Dan Martin on Tennis and Life 
Looks like I need to take up tennis!