Reality Tennis

67. FLUFFY AND FLAT!

When you think about the pro tennis tour, some of the images and sounds that come to mind are the ‘psssst’ of the new ball cans opening; the strong aroma of fresh rubber; and the bright fluorescent colour of brand new balls. However, not all levels of the tour are lucky enough to witness this on as regular a basis as the top flight players.

Obviously when pro tennis players (in particular) hit tennis balls, they hit hard and fast and the balls take a real hammering, hence why new balls are introduced at various stages during pro level matches. Typically, in WTA/ATP level events (and some of the higher ITF/Challenger tournaments) new balls are provided after the first 7 games (the warm up is deemed to last a similar time to 2 games) then every 9 games thereafter. In the mid range events, ball changes are made every 9 and 11 games and in the lower level ITF events (W/M15s and W/M25s) ball changes are made after 11 and 13 games.

In reality, however, many of the lower level players may not be as consistent and accurate as the top level players but they do invariably hit the ball just as hard, so this big difference in the frequency of ball changes seems to be almost entirely down to budgets. The lower level tournaments more often than not, don’t have the money to provide as many balls so the players have to make do with sub standard balls and have to play longer with them. Seems a shame though that one of the main tools that tennis players use is the thing that gets hit hardest when finances are being considered. I am sure the players would rather have quality tennis balls to play with than be given a branded towel every time they step on court. Now don’t get me wrong, every player loves a free towel (see my earlier blog entitled ‘Towels!’) but maybe some of the free towels could be exchanged for some decent tennis balls?

The picture at the top of this blog is from the tournament I was at this week in France. The actual brand of ball (Technifibre) is usually fine but for some reason (maybe the court surface) the balls were pretty much useless after about 10 minutes of play. In addition, the players were not given any new balls to practice with (and there was no pro shop to purchase new balls from) so the practice sessions were somewhat hit and miss (no joke intended) as the balls were so fluffy and flat that a ‘true’ hit could not be achieved. In the first practice session we had two of the four balls burst and when we asked for replacements one of the lady helpers said she didn’t see what was wrong with them and was reluctant to replace them!

The picture at the bottom was also from a tournament in France – a few weeks back. These balls were equally as bad. They didn’t burst but within about 10 minutes of the start of the practice session but most of the fluff from the balls was left on the court and the players were left hitting with bald balls akin to the ones I used to hit with at school back in the late 70’s/early 80’s. Shockingly bad!

At WTA/ATP tournaments the provision of balls is so much better. Every time the players practice they are given a new tube of balls without question. At the lower level events however, not only are practice balls limited but the players invariably have to leave a deposit for them (typically $10 or €10), which they only get back if they return the balls after use. The players are happy to return the balls (as they are of little use to them in their used state) so I am unsure as to why they have to leave a deposit – perhaps a means by which the event organiser can make some money as frequently the players forget to collect their deposit in their haste to leave the venue once they are out of the draw.

Sometimes the balls used for tournaments are so bad that the event organisers offer ball changes at more frequent intervals than specified for the level of tournament being held. For example, at a recent W25 in Aldershot, UK, the ball changes should have been every 11 and 13 games but the organisers were acutely aware that the Dunlop Australian Open balls are poor when used in cold weather so permitted ball changes every 7 and 9 games. These particular balls were designed for use in Australia – during the Australian Open when the outside air temperature is high. For some reason, the UK has committed to use Dunlop Australian Open balls for all its tournaments this year. Now, unless I am missing something, the weather in the UK (say in Glasgow in October) is not really comparable to the weather in Melbourne in January so why agree to use this ball type unless of course some mega deal has been done, in which case the ball choice has again been made according to finances and not in line with what suits the players the most.

All of this is just another example of the reality of life on the tour. It’s not all about players wanting an unlimited supply of new balls – it’s about levels and provision and making the lower level players use far inferior balls, which don’t help their game in any way at all. Believe it or not, there has even been a case of a $15k event in Cancun, Mexico where the tournament actually had to postpone play for a day because they didn’t have enough balls to play with. Surely the most important things a tournament has to provide are quality courts and a good supply of decent tennis balls? Not always the case! Things like this are simply never reported on in the media – the tennis tour is portrayed as all sunshine, fabulous facilities and big prize money but it couldn’t be further from the truth for the majority of players battling it out at the lower levels, trying to make a living by playing the sport they love.

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66. LATERAL THINKING

I have blogged before about the stress of travel days on the tennis tour and trust me, they are stressful! Last week was a case in point but very much the reality of life on the tour. Let me fill you in……

My player and I were in Parma, Italy for a WTA125 tournament. The event started on the Sunday but my player’s first match wasn’t until Wednesday, so there was a lot of killing time at the start of the week. She and her partner won their first match so they played again on the Thursday, and then again on Friday. Whilst still in the tournament the players cannot really make any travel plans for after the event as they do not know when they will be finished and pre booked flights could be a total waste of money as you cannot predict in advance if you are going to win or lose a match.

Friday came and the semi final was played. My player (and her partner) lost a close fought match (to the eventual title winners) and we immediately started to make plans to come home. We had previously seen a couple of flights scheduled to leave nearby Bologna – one on Friday night and one on Saturday morning – so we tried to book one of those. However, when we looked we were saddened to discover they were all SOLD OUT. Hmmm. What now? The transport laid on by the tournament only offered lifts to Bologna Airport (at three specified times of the day) so we knew straight away that our homeward journey was going to become more complicated.

Next option was a flight from Milan (there are three airports in Milan) so we looked but once again were faced with SOLD OUT on pretty much every website we checked. Milan Fashion Week had hit the town and all the flights were gone. One flight was available to London Heathrow but at a cost of c.£500 each. This was out of the question. Despite making the semi finals of the WTA125 event, my player had only won £565 (gross) and this was before the 30% tax was deducted and the cost of her flight out to Italy and food etc. Yes the prize money is that bad! But these events have to be played if you want to climb the rankings, as wins mean ranking points.

So, this is where a tennis player needs to also be a good lateral thinker and a problem solver. How were we going to get home? Maybe via a multi-city option? We tried that but again the flights were either sold out or way too expensive. However, we did find a potential flight leaving from Venice the next day so started to explore this further.

How do we get to Venice – a mere c.250km away – in time for the flight to London? Trains! Ordinarily an option one would shy against in the UK as the rail network can be very expensive and unreliable, but the situation is quite the opposite on the European Continent where trains are good, fast and relatively cheap.

Our research led us to a train from Parma to the central station in Bologna. A quick change then another train to Venice Mestre station. From there we knew there was a bus to the airport. So that’s what we booked. We managed to wangle a lift to Parma station in the morning and luckily for us, all of our connections were on time.

We made it to Venice in time for the flight but then we had to work out how we were going to get home from Gatwick once we had landed. Our car was at home – airport parking is not an option as you never know which airport you are going to fly home to – Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton, Stansted – or even further afield. This time we were coming back into Gatwick so it was two trains to Woking then a lift from a lovely neighbour. The previous trip however we had only been able to get a flight back to Stansted, which is never an easy place to get back from. How they can call Stansted a ‘London Airport’, I will never know as it is no where near London! On that occasion, the cheapest option was to hire a car and drive home so that’s what we did!

So, with a bit of lateral thinking we did indeed get home from Parma. It took two cars, a bus, five trains and a plane but we made it in around about 12 hours and for half the price of the direct flight to Heathrow – an important factor to a tennis player traveling on a tight budget. A very long day but with the Brexit restrictions on the number of days we can each spend in Europe, an overnight stay to get a flight on Sunday wasn’t an option. Travelling on the tennis tour is mad – where in the Netflix ‘Breakpoint’ series do we see this side of story? This is the reality – it really is planes, trains and automobiles!

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65. TO BE BRUTALLY HONEST……

Following on from ‘Being Mum’ and to be brutally honest, travelling on the tennis tour with a player is a really tough gig. There are highs and lows and lots in between, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. Some days it is just amazing to share the euphoria of a win, but others are heart-breaking and extremely tough to handle, both for player and parent. The pain experienced after the loss of a match, especially one that your player felt she could win, is extreme – it’s deep and cutting and is felt by both player and parent. But as a parent, you cannot really feel the pain openly as you want to support your player and they don’t need to be worrying about both their pain and yours – you don’t want them to feel like they have let you down (which of course they haven’t) – because they are feeling bad enough as it is, so as a parent you try to contain the pain you are feeling and offer support to your player and try to help them take some positives from the match as opposed to pure negatives. This isn’t always easy so it is good to have a friend or family member who truly understands what you are going through so you can share your feelings rather than bottling them up and taking things out on your player, as I have seen some parent’s do.

Now I know it is my choice to travel with my player, but to be honest, I find staying at home staring at the live scores way harder and far more stressful than being on site watching her battle it out. I need to be court-side, watching the matches as they evolve – to be able to know how to handle the aftermath. And if I genuinely cannot be there, for whatever reason, I will make sure that I can watch the live stream/live score if available, even if this means getting up in the middle of the night to catch the action as it happens. Yes, I guess I am obsessive, but not in a mad parent, win at all costs kind of way; more one that wants to be able to share in my player’s ups and downs – to be there to share in the joy of a win or to pick up the pieces when things don’t go to plan. I truly appreciate the amount of blood, sweat and tears that go into the life of a pro tennis player and I want to be able to help my player every step along the way – to try and take away some of the stress and pressure; the loneliness and isolation; and the disappointment she feels when her match doesn’t go the way she planned; and to share her highs when things go right – rather than have her have to celebrate alone. There is nothing worse than not being with your player when she loses – that phone call after the match when they cannot speak because they are so upset at the result of their match – the helpless feeling you have knowing that they are hundreds of miles away, alone and upset. It is much easier to console them if you are there with them but I appreciate not all parents are in a position to do that.

As any parent who follows their child playing sport will know, the level of stress experienced when watching them perform can be incredibly high. Being on tour with a player is no exception and can take its toll! I am sure that I carry a lot of my player’s stress in my own body judging by the aches and pains I have when she plays and the relief I feel when a match is over. I have heard many a commentator say that it is harder being a parent spectator than being the player themselves and I think they might be correct. I have often thought about measuring my heart rate during a match and maybe my blood pressure, as I am sure they will be much higher than they should be, but despite what I am feeling physically and emotionally whilst she is on court, I try to maintain a calm expression and relaxed body position so as not to transfer any of my stress onto my player. Most players will look to their ‘box’ (the parents, coach etc) for reassurance and support and the last thing they need to see is someone grimacing and gesticulating. For sure applaud and offer encouragement but throwing your hands up in exasperation after a double fault will not help your player in the slightest! It’s not easy though and I have been guilty of being over excited at times, but I am learning all the time and I think I am getting pretty good at showing my poker face! It was interesting to hear about the decision by Coco Gauff’s father to watch her recent US Open matches from a hospitality box as opposed to from her allocated supporters box as he felt unable to sit calmly whilst she battled it out on court, but it is no different if you are watching your child play an orange ball match at the local club – the stress and tension is still there and the need for calm is just as important.

So, next time you are sitting court-side watching your child play, try to keep calm and offer only support and encouragement. They will appreciate it and so will your body!

Helping make the players feel valued by sharing in their highs and lows is invaluable, especially when they travel alone

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64. TO WHOOP OR NOT TO WHOOP!

As I mentioned in my earlier blog, ‘Give Them a Chance’, there are currently three governing bodies for tennis and each has its own rules and regulations that players have to abide by. The men’s game is ruled by the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) and the ITF (International Tennis Federation) and the women’s by the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) and the ITF. It’s a crazy situation in my opinion, and one which leads to much confusion for the players, as what goes with one governing body may not go with another. It all appears to be organised and good but in reality the presence of three governing bodies just adds to the stress that players experience and which could be avoided if the three governing bodies were to merge to one, or at least one for each of the sexes.

A classic example of this confusion (and unnecessary stress) can be found in the women’s game. The WTA currently has an association with WHOOP (www.whoop.com) – a company which provides products which enable athletes (and regular individuals) to monitor their health and fitness on a new level. An athlete wearing a Whoop band can gather performance data on her sleep patterns, stress levels, recovery rates, heart rate variability, calorie expenditure to name just a few, and can then work with her trainers, doctor etc to adapt her programme to ensure that her body is operating at its maximum capability. They are becoming an increasingly popular tool for athletes.

Whoop bands do not have a screen. They collect data via a sensor placed on the players wrist and this can only be accessed when the player links up to an App on her phone. The Whoop cannot receive or send messages – unlike an Apple Watch for example.

WTA players are being offered Whoop bands to assist them with their training and are permitted to wear them during WTA organised tournaments. A nice gesture and one for which the players are very grateful. However, the crazy thing is that players are not ‘allowed’ to wear them if they are playing in a Grand Slam or in a tournament organised by the ITF. I am unclear as to the reasoning behind this – maybe it is because the Grand Slam/ITF event organisers are simply not up to date with this kind of technology rather than them having made a conscious decision to ban them – who knows? But also, not all ITF event organisers appear to be clear on the rules themselves. One umpire last week permitted my player to wear her Whoop during her match but then in the following game she was asked to remove it (mid match), which was confusing and disrupting to say the least. Surely if the ITF is not going to allow the wearing of a Whoop band (which seems a shortsighted decision) then players wrists should be checked before matches start not mid match when their focus is on the game? But the bigger issue here has to be that all the governing bodies should have the same rules on things like this – the players don’t need to be worrying about which rules are in effect week by week – they should all be the same. But this is the reality of the situation at the moment – three governing bodies which don’t seem to communicate!

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63. BEING MUM

It’s a joy to be able to witness the successes first hand.

As I have said in many of my blogs, the tennis tour is brutal, especially at the ITF Tour level. Of course there are many good things about the tour (opportunities to travel the world, playing a sport you love, experiencing new cultures etc) and many bad things (poor hotels, hideous costs, relentless travel ….), but the reality is that day in day out life on tour is tough, especially if you are experiencing it alone.

I think it is fair to say that the majority of players on the ITF (as opposed to the WTA) Tour travel alone, or at best, with another player. Of course there are many who travel with coaches and a few with a parent, but the majority are alone adding to the brutality of this line of work.

On the WTA Tour, by the nature of the fact that more money is earned at that level, I would say that the opposite is true and many of the players are with some kind of coach or trainer but there are still many that are not. This may not be through choice – I am sure that pretty much all players would love to to travel with someone, given the chance, but circumstances just don’t allow it, especially if it is a parent. Most parents either don’t have the time or finances to travel with their player, or they have additional children to look after or other responsibilities at home, or they simply don’t like the stress of the tour. I guess I am one of the odd ones, as I love travelling with my player – sharing the ups and the downs, seeing the world as she does, experiencing new places on an almost weekly basis, and at the same time having precious mother and daughter time that many don’t have once their children have reached the end of their education and have left home. I know I am lucky and I certainly do not take this part of my life for granted. I am so thankful to my player that she genuinely likes me to come along.

I started travelling with my player when she was a junior. I was fortunate that my employer was a great tennis fan and saw the importance of a parent travelling with a young athlete, and allowed me to juggle my work commitments with the busy tournament schedule. As a result, this meant that my player rarely travelled without either myself or her coach and for this, we, as a team, are very grateful.

The principle reason for travelling with her back then was primarily maternal – to look after her if she needed help; to protect her should things go wrong in anyway; and to provide emotional support (at a key time – during those teenage years) whilst away from home – as well as the added bonus of being able to watch her train and compete at increasingly high levels.

Many years on (she is now about to turn 24), I still travel with her for several weeks of the year and whilst I am no longer there to ‘look after her’ so to speak, I am there more as a companion, a P.A. (laundry, travel bookings etc), a shoulder to cry on, and a stress reducer, and there is no doubt that having a parent on hand to share the experience can be a benefit, especially if the relationship between parent and child is good and healthy.

I am really fortunate in that my player treats me as an equal. Our mother-daughter relationship/bond is incredibly strong and we always work as a team. We very rarely, if ever, argue and are sympathetic to each other’s need for space and opinion. I do not attempt to coach her in anyway – her tennis is her realm and she seeks advice from coaches when she needs to – but I am there to bounce ideas off, to discuss the logistics of her schedule, and to make her laugh when things start getting too serious!

Interestingly I have found that many of the players on the womens tour come and talk to me at tournaments. They don’t exclude me – as I probably would have done at their age. Instead many of them embrace me and my presence – include me in on dinner outings, and often remark and question my player if I am not there for one week!

What has to be remembered is that some of these girls/women are away from home for weeks on end. They don’t see their homes or their parents for several months so to have someone around who is of a similar age to their parents can be reassuring for many. I have noticed this especially at the higher level tournaments where many players seem to spend an inordinate amount of time in with the physios. For sure many are getting injuries treated, but some are also just seeking some much needed TLC and someone to talk to (who isn’t another player or a coach).

I am sure the situation is different on the mens tour but women and girls definitely need some kind of support system, so please never under estimate the value of having a non coaching parent around and if you ever have the opportunity to travel with your player then do it!

Road trip to Scotland for a sport of training!

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62. EARLY BIRD OR NIGHT OWL?

One of the differences between the junior and senior tours is the match timings. On the junior tour there are certain rules about when matches are played and there are restrictions about how late a match can start. Not so the case on the senior tour. Matches can start and end at pretty much any time and the players simply have to learn to adjust, week in week out.

Take this week for example, having come from a tournament in Båstad, Sweden where the first matches started at 11am and all matches were pretty much complete by 9pm, my player now finds herself in a position in Palermo, Italy, where the first match scheduled on her court is at 5pm and she is playing fourth, so she will most likely start her match around 10pm (at the very earliest), and end close to midnight or even in the early hours. This kind of timing can be especially tough if your player is an ‘early bird’ who prefers to rise with the sun and retire when it sets. Next week however, the schedule may then revert back to the more ‘normal’ times but you never know until you arrive at the tournament itself.

Now these late night matches seem tolerable when you see the times some of the matches at the US Open (for example) start and end but there is (sometimes) method in this scheduling madness. This week in Palermo, the day time temperatures are in the high 30’s (centigrade) so at least the matches are being played when it is getting (marginally) cooler outside but sometimes the match times are dictated to by broadcasting companies and the players just have to adjust. But it can’t be easy playing matches at a time when your body is telling you you should be asleep!

Then there is the issue of floodlights. There are guidelines that the tournament venues are supposed to adhere to re lighting levels but to be honest, I am not sure that these are regularly checked, certainly on the ITF Tour, and just one badly adjusted light bulb can easily affect a player’s vision at night and make playing even more challenging. Then there are the bugs! In hot countries, where night matches seem to be more prevalent, there is the issue of mosquitos etc that are drawn to the lights and so to the players. So players need to be sure to take copious amounts of bug spray and antihistamine cream to deal with these pests and also make sure that their vaccinations are up to date if travelling to countries that have high risks of malaria and other tropical diseases.

Just another example of the reality of life on the tour. It’s not all blue sky and sunshine – it can be late nights and mozzy bites as well!

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61. THANK YOU!

It’s been a long time coming but Wimbledon has at last amended its’ clothing policy to allow women (and girl) competitors to wear dark coloured undershorts beneath their white skirts at this year’s Championships. The all white clothing rule, which has got more and more stringent as the years have gone by, has long been a concern to the majority of female players and has been the subject of much discussion in and around the locker room, but at last the powers that be have listened to the players and have changed the rule, which will be a huge relief to many competitors, and in particular, those whose period falls within the Championship fortnight.

Every woman will know that whilst the menstrual cycle is a part of nature, and something that every healthy woman experiences, it can be a huge inconvenience to many, especially female sports people who are expected to perform to their highest level regardless of where in their cycle they are. A woman on her period can experience painful stomach cramps, mood swings, and fatigue – to name just a few of the ‘symptoms’ – all of which can affect her performance, but she also has to endure the worry and stress of potential ‘leakages’ (due to a heavy flow); the sudden unexpected onset of a period; or a clothing malfunction which could reveal a players menstrual situation, which, when playing in front of a crowd can be more debilitating than the physical symptoms themselves.

The wearing of white at Wimbledon is tradition which dates back very many years and was principally introduced to reduce the appearance of sweat patches on players clothing. However, the rules have got increasingly strict as the years have gone by. Long gone are the days when Borg was permitted to wear his trademark red and white FILA tracksuit top and Chris Evert her white dresses with colourful trim. Nowadays the players cannot really show any colour at all, apart from maybe a very little on their shoes or a tiny bit of trim on their clothing. Until now….

So, well done Wimbledon and thank you from all the female players. Can we now however request that other clubs who adhere to the all white policy, take note and relax their rules accordingly? A rule change at the Championships is a start (and a very visual one) but the issue of periods and the related stress is on-going and players competing at other tournaments on the tour and recreationally will still have the worries of periods during play. Ok, they may not be performing in front of a crowd of several million but the concerns are no less small. Other sports are also changing their clothing policies, which is great to see, so let’s bring about change across sport at all levels. No woman or girl should have to endure the stress of exposing their period to all just because of a clothing rule. It’s hard enough dealing with the symptoms when performing let alone having to worry about other issues at the same time. As a parent of a young female player, I have seen first hand the period related stress. It’s tough and anything that can help to reduce that can only be a good thing.

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60. GRASS!

No sooner has the French Open started and all of a sudden, it’s that time again……the grass season! It’s like that famous yeast extract spread – the players either love it or loath it – but luckily for those who loath it, it only lasts 5 weeks – so is hardly a ‘season’ – unlike the clay and hard court seasons which seem to go on forever!

For players who like all the surfaces, the transition from clay to grass has to be fast. There is little time to adjust. Players who fall in the first week of the French Open only have a few days to get onto the grass courts and try to get used to the low bounce and fast ball speed that this natural surface creates. The complete opposite to the high bounce, slow speed of the clay courts. Hence why some players hate it and find it hard to play on.

The sliding seen on the clay courts is much more difficult, if not impossible, on grass courts. Suddenly the players have to sprint, rather than slide to a ball and they have to adjust their reactions to cope with the speed at which the ball comes to them as it skids across the slippery surface. Playing on grass courts is exhausting. The rallies may be shorter but the stress on the body is intense, and the burn of the quads and glutes is something else! Just ask a player!

There is a myth on the tour that British players all practice on grass all year round. Many foreigners believe that the UK only has grass courts. In fact, grass courts are almost as scarce as true clay courts in the UK. There are lots of ‘synthetic’ grass courts AKA carpet or Astroturf, but true grass courts are limited to a handful of largely prestigious and historic clubs, which typically have a plethora of courts which are only used during the summer season and which play host to such tournaments as the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham, the Surbiton Trophy, and of course, the Championships at Wimbledon. These clubs typically have the resources to look after these grass facilities, which, like true clay courts, are notoriously expensive to maintain.

If your player is going to play the grass season, then be prepared to have to hunt high and low for grass court shoes. You would think that they can be easily bought in the Spring of each year but no, they are sometimes impossible to find. So if you do find a source, it is probably worth investing in a few pairs which can be stored away and brought out each summer. Some players have been know to try to play with clay or hard court shoes but these simply won’t work, and some clubs, like Wimbledon, will simply not permit you onto the courts without the correct foot-ware.

Contrary to popular belief, not all the grass court tournaments are held in the UK. The majority are but there are also grass court events in the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Spain and Australia. The standard of the courts varies hugely. Of course, the Rolls Royce of grass courts has to be the lawns of the All England Club, Wimbledon, but there are also beautiful courts at Queens Club, Surbiton, Edgbaston Priory, Nottingham etc. Some clubs have fabulous grass courts but their practice courts can be far from perfect – more like ploughed fields than grass tennis courts! This can add that extra edge to practice with extraordinary bounces and uneven grass but no different to be honest to the quality of some of the clay courts experienced around the world. The players just have to adapt and it’s the same for all.

But having said all of this, there is something magical about the grass season. It may be short but it provides a welcome break from the grind on the clay. The grass season coincides with the start of summer (in Britain at least) and there is something special about playing on grass when the sun is shining and the sky is blue. Maybe it’s just the image it conjures up of strawberries and cream, ice cold Pimms, and lazy days spent outside. But don’t relax for too long as the grass season is over in a flash and the tour players return to their more typical courts and begin preparation for the hard court season in the autumn.

Photo by Stephen Pond/Getty Images for LTA

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59. THE POOR RELATION

Doubles is often seen as the poor relation of singles which, in my opinion, is profoundly wrong! Doubles is a sport in itself. For sure some of the skills needed for singles are also needed for doubles but there is a whole new additional skill set that doubles players have to acquire if they are going to succeed in the game. It is not a given that if you are good at singles, you will be good at doubles and vice versa. Now obviously there are many exceptions to this – Ash Barty, a doubles specialist first, then singles World No 1 after; and Serena Williams – a legend in both disciplines – but it is not a foregone conclusion and there are many players who simply cannot play top level in both singles and doubles.

Singles is a game of tactics, physical and mental strength, speed and endurance. But doubles is all of these, as well as being a team game which requires non verbal and verbal communication, strategy, super fast reactions and an ability to work effectively alongside another player to strategise on how to outwit the opponents. This requires each player to be acutely aware of each others position and movement at all times and an ability to adapt constantly as the situation on court changes.

With these factors in mind, why then do the tennis governing bodies and the tournament organisers continue to make the specialist doubles players feel like they don’t belong? Why do they get told they can only practice for an hour, whilst the singles players get two hours? Why are some of the doubles draws only open to 8 pairs, as opposed to the more typical 16? Why is the prize money so much less for the doubles pairs (even before they have to split it 50:50)? Why do the doubles players almost always get scheduled to play last? Why is it the doubles matches that get cancelled first if the weather is bad? Why do the clay courts get swept and watered in between sets for singles matches but not always for doubles (when there are 4 people on the court as opposed to 2 so more ‘mess’)? Why do some tournaments not give trophies to doubles winners? Why does the third set of a doubles match have to be a Championship Tie Break when already the doubles matches are quicker to complete than the singles – why not let the doubles players enjoy and savour their time on court for a bit longer? And so the list goes on.

I get that some people are of the opinion that singles is the more attractive discipline and the one that the sponsors prefer but there are many people out there who would rather watch a fast moving doubles game than sit through a singles match that goes on for over 5 hours. For sure a long singles match can be enthralling and exciting, a great exhibition of the physical and mental endurance of two super athletes, but it can also be a slog and quite numbing on the backside! A doubles match however, can be exciting, fast paced, entertaining and thrilling – certainly at the upper levels where the skills on show can be quite spectacular.

There are many players on the tour who choose to only play doubles – British players, Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury, being classic examples. For whatever reason, both of these former World No 1 doubles players decided to give up their singles careers to focus on doubles. There are others who only play singles and there are players who play both. But there are also players who only choose to play doubles when the prize money is substantial (at a Grand Slam for example).

Whatever the event, the entry lists for the doubles tournaments is based upon the combined rankings of the two players in each team. Seems fair right? But not when you realise that a player can use her singles ranking for a doubles event (at Grand Slams and at on-site sign ins for any tour level tournament), which means that two highly ranked singles players can gain entry into a doubles event over and above a team of doubles specialists, who travel the world and play doubles week in week out. Now that simply doesn’t make sense – nor is it fair to the players who have chosen to focus entirely on doubles in an attempt to be the best in the world. Why take a persons singles ranking over their doubles ranking when creating the entry list for a doubles event? They are two separate disciplines within the sport of tennis. It’s like a long jumper in athletics using her ranking to enter the high jump! If this is how the doubles entry lists are compiled, why not let a doubles player not use her doubles ranking to enter a singles event? Now that would really shake things up!

One of the key, immensely annoying and unfair, issues with singles players entering doubles events is that if the players’ singles is going well in a particular week, and she has reached the ‘business end’ of the tournament, then more often than not she will withdraw from the doubles event to conserve her energy for the singles. Not only is this incredibly tough on her partner but it is also unbelievably tough on the specialist doubles pair that were number one on the alternate list, but were shunted down the list on entry because two singles players decided to enter. This situation needs to change and fast! Why not create some events that are for doubles players only ie no singles at all!? Food for thought!

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Twitter: @realitytennis

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If you have similar stories to share, please feel free to e mail the author at: sallyappleton64@gmail.com

58. TOWELS!

What tennis player doesn’t love a nice towel – especially when it is free and is given to you for simply taking part in an event?

Many of the WTA and higher level ITF tournaments give the players towels bearing the name of the tournament, the sponsor, the year etc, and these are always appreciated. They are not only a nice momento for the players but they also come in extremely handy both on and off the court. They save the player the hassle of having to remember to pack a towel before travelling and I have no doubt, the presence of complimentary towels at some tournaments may also save local hotels quite a bit of money, in terms of them not having to replace towels borrowed by players for matches but them not always being returned!

Not all tournaments are so generous however, and some will either offer no towel at all (their prerogative), or will give one to the player but insist on its’ return as soon as the match is over. Tough if your player wants to shower post match.

Some of the Grand Slams are exceedingly generous when it comes to towels and will give the player a new one each time she goes on court. The Australian Open for example, knows no bounds. A few years back. my player went on to play a Junior match and received two towels. The match was suspended for rain a few times but each time she went back on court she received two more towels. She was given 6 in total for just one match and by the end of the tournament she had accumulated 14! Now some of these she gave to friends and spectators who had come to watch, but the remainder were packed away and brought back to the UK as souvenirs and are still being used to this day.

Other Slams are not so generous. The French Open gave no branded towels to the Juniors when my player was there – or at least certainly not in the early rounds. Likewise , the US Open and Wimbledon provided only plain white towels to the qualifiers. You had to earn your right to a tournament towel by securing a place in the Main Draw.

Wimbledon however, are extremely generous in other areas, and certainly when my player played there, the Club gave each and every person in the Main Draw, an envelope which contained a voucher (of significant value) to use in the Wimbledon Shop – a gesture not seen at any of the other Slams – at least at that time. This meant that players could buy towels, or any other kind of memorabilia to take home with them as a reminder of their part in the Championships that year. A really nice touch and greatly appreciated by the players.

The higher up your player goes on the tour, the more likely she is to receive gifts donated by the tournament sponsors. She may receive something alongside her trophy if she makes a final or there may be a sponsors gift for everyone who takes part. Some of the gifts are very generous – for example, my player recently received a cashmere scarf for winning a W60 in Switzerland. Others however are more practical, for example, a box full of sanitary items at a WTA250 event in Tunisia. A useful, if somewhat surprising gift, but nevertheless appreciated!

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Twitter: @realitytennis

Instagram: realitytennis

If you have similar stories to share, please feel free to e mail the author at: sallyappleton64@gmail.com

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