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International sports are dominated by Western nations for many decades. The popularity of tennis has risen from the aristocratic entertainment of the elite upper class to the sport of the middle class. Tennis is one of the most successful women's sports worldwide, the female tennis players among the highest paid athletes. Players from the former socialist countries are taking on an increasing role inglobal tennis, which has developed into a professional sport. The article describes the causes of the phenomenon focusing on the already retired and still active elit hungarian women tennis players. The research was carried out among retired and active Hungarian elite tennis players. Data was collected with the help of questionnaries. Statistical analysis confirms that the success of tennis players' sports performance and sports culture is influenced by different factors. The main contribution of our paper is that a tennis career already functions as a livelihood model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]