Enjoy …….
84. THE 10K CLUB!
When I started Reality Tennis and my associated blogs, I did so for a number of reasons. Firstly because, having travelled with my player on the ITF Junior tour, I had a head filled with so many stories and experiences that I found it quite overwhelming at times and I felt that it would be…
83. NO RIGHT TO DEFEND?
At the start of this year, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced a new tournament format. Gone are the W25, W40, W60 and the W80 events – replaced now by W35s, W50s and W75s. Previously the letter/number combination indicated the gender of the tournament and the value of the prize money on offer. So a…
82: LIFE LONG FRIENDS
One of the nicest things about being on the tennis tour (as a player and as a parent) is that you get to meet a whole host of lovely people, from different countries and different cultures, and all with some kind of interest in tennis. These may be people like Denise and Mike in Altenkirchen,…
81. SOLE TO SOLE
The tennis tour is played on a variety of different surfaces – red clay (the ‘dirt”) in Europe and South America; grey/blue clay in the US; hard/acrylic (worldwide); grass (predominantly, although not exclusively, in the UK); and carpet (with and without sand, indoor and outdoor – various places around the world, including Germany, Japan, Italy…
80. PLAYERS PARTIES
One of the fun things to go to on the tour, are the players parties. Often held at the start of the week, these are often put on by the tournament organisers and all players and their support teams are invited, as well as sponsors, members of the hosting club, and the officials. These parties…
79. SETTING THE SCENE – FINALS DAY
Finals Day has arrived and your player is still in the tournament. The schedule is set. Play starts at 12.00 Noon. But before then there is a lot to be done! The players want to practice. The tournament organisers need to prepare the court. If the tournament is on a hard court then this can…
78. NOT ANOTHER TAKE AWAY?
Elite athletes typically like to eat clean. Good wholesome food – a few carbs, lots of protein and plenty of fresh fruit and veg. Makes sense right? Then why do the tennis organisers very frequently, accommodate players in hotels with no, or very limited catering, and in locations that are far away from affordable restaurants…
77. CLEAN CLOTHES PLEASE!
Tennis players are constantly on the move and there is a limit to the amount of kit they can carry so one of the most frequently asked questions at tournament venues (speaking solely from experience of womens events), is ‘where is the nearest laundrette?’ Unlike the players at the top end of the tennis tour,…
76. GET A GRIP
It’s a well known fact that tennis is an expensive sport. Racquets, balls, court hire, kit, shoes – none of these come cheaply – but neither do grips! Pro players can get through a number of grips each match – depending upon the temperature in which a match is played and the amount of sweat…
75. DON’T GIVE THE GAME AWAY!
If you have watched any pro doubles tennis matches, you will for sure have seen the players discussing tactics behind guarded mouths (to avoid being lip-read) and hand signals being displayed by the person at the net to the person further back in the court. These signals will be communicating what the intentions are for…
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Reality Tennis 