Latest News on the Northern Beaches

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Core Values that Tennis Teaches | ATP

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It may be the oldest question about sports… Does tennis teach character or reveal it? 

Some would answer both or even neither, but after coaching for more than 40 years now. I have come to a conclusion based on more than 65,000 hours of teaching tennis on the court.

Tennis CAN teach character, but only if it is intentional. The coach needs to have character as one of the pillars of his teaching philosophy.

Studies show that sports participation does NOT in and of itself teach character. In fact, studies show that  the more time and energy athletes put in to becoming elite, that more likely they may be in justify cheating.

Just looking at the professional world of sports and you can see many examples of this happening from using illegal performance enhancing drugs as an obvious example.

Today we have a multitude of players that feel like they are failures because they don’t win as often as they think they should. A big reason is that players have been taught by peers, parents, and coaches, that winning is the ultimate goal.

Instead, we need to realize that tennis is a nearly perfect vehicle to teach players the many life lessons that are so important for all champions to learn.

Below is a list of these core values that tennis COULD teach, if the coach is intentional:

1. CHARACTER: Through the responsibilities each player has to call the lines on their side of the court, keep score accurately, and give the opponent the benefit of the doubt, tennis offers a great opportunity for players to build character.

A player’s character can also be seen in the way they keep score during a drill or even by their line calls while they drill. Good coaches can be very helpful if they can get the players to realize that their self-worth as a person has nothing to do with how well they strike a little yellow ball.

2. COURAGE: Tennis gives players the opportunity to play through tough times. The one-on-one style of competition certainly requires the guts to put it on the line. Few other sports require as much courage from their youngest athletes as tennis does in this area. Another example is when players find it necessary to confront or question someone that is cheating them.

How many times have we seen players avoid that uncomfortable job, only to wait until the match is over to tell the entire world how their opponent was the biggest cheater on the planet? Think of it, aren’t those skills the exact ones that will best serve the players in their adult life? It’s all about how you look at the situation.

Some will think this is an awful burden that no young player should have to endure, while others recognize it as a great opportunity to teach an important life lesson and skill. 

3. HONESTY: Tennis is one of the only sports where the players make calls on each other’s shots. Can you imagine a Little League game where the batter calls the balls and strikes? Although this huge responsibility in the hands of immature competitors can and has caused problems, no other sport allows for the development of honesty like tennis does.

Parents and coaches can facilitate the development of this core value if they seek out opportunities to compliment players when the players get it right. 

4. SPORTSMANSHIP: Like in other sports, tennis players will play opponents that are jerks and try to cheat. In the short run, this is uncomfortable for players and parents, but it does give young kids the chance to start to develop coping skills with these kinds of people.

I know many competitive junior players are mature beyond their peers in this area simply because they have had more chances to practice these skills than non-tennis players. Parents should view these episodes as opportunities and resist the urge to get involved and “save” the child. 

5. INTEGRITY: More than any other sport, tennis has the potential for “retaliatory” calls because it allows for your opponent to make calls that directly affect you. There will be times when people get cheated, whether on purpose or by honest mistake. How a player reacts to these times offers the player a chance to test and prove their integrity.

Will they get even, or will they do the right thing despite the opponent’s actions? Refusing to retaliate will teach players that they should avoid situational ethics by refusing to get even “because he did it to me first”.Players that succeed in this area can have a profound sense of satisfaction even if they lose the match, but only if a coach or parent is dedicated to looking for and rewarding their successes in this area. 

6. COMMITMENT: Reaching the highest level of tennis requires a great deal of commitment on the player’s part. The lessons of self-discipline and delayed gratification are great life lessons that will surely serve the player later in life.

Even within a player’s game, they will need to make decisions to try new techniques that may hurt them in the short run. Commitment to these new techniques is critical for future tennis success and teaches a valuable life lesson that players will surely benefit from as adults. 

7. HUMILITY: Through competition and partaking in drill classes, players soon come to realize people do not look upon arrogance very highly. Tennis offers players the chance to learn the difference between arrogance and confidence.

Team settings and class settings are the best arenas for players to learn this. Parents and coaches can not shun their responsibility to tell players when they are acting arrogantly.

8. EXCELLENCE:  I believe the practice court is the best arena to teach players to strive for excellence. Many players find it difficult to practice with the proper level of intensity after a long day at school.

These challenges are similar to the ones they will have in college, and ultimately when they enter the workforce and become parents. The ability to work hard when you don’t feel like it is a major life lesson in the area of striving for excellence.

If we can produce players that strive to excel in these areas and look at tennis as a vehicle to become a better person, then they will have learned valuable life lessons and in the process experience less stress in competition.

This is because they will no longer view the “win” as the ultimate goal. Instead, they will be aiming at a more important target. Almost every tough loss in tennis can be a victory if the player is tuned into the life lessons that tennis offers.

Jorge Capestany, USPTA Master Professional

Inside the Battle to Control, and Fix, Tennis | NYT

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Walking the grounds of Melbourne Park, where the Australian Open is in full swing, one could easily believe that all is well and peaceful in professional tennis.

Stadiums are packed. Champagne flows. Players are competing for more than $53 million in prize money at a major tournament the Swiss star Roger Federer nicknamed “the happy Slam.”

Behind the scenes though, over the past 18 months a coterie of billionaires, deep-pocketed companies and star players has engaged in a high-stakes battle to lead what they view as a once-in-a-generation opportunity for disruption in a sport long known for its dysfunctional management and disparate power structure.

The figures include Bill Ackman, the billionaire hedge fund manager and hard-core tennis hobbyist who built a tennis court atop his office tower in Midtown Manhattan. Ackman is funding a fledgling players’ organization led by the Serbian star Novak Djokovic. The group is searching for ways to grow the sport’s financial pie and the size of the players’ slice. In their ideal world, one day there might even be a major player-run event akin to a fifth Grand Slam tournament.

Earlier this month, the group announced its core tenets, which include protecting player rights, securing fair compensation and improving work conditions. Players have about had it with matches that start close to midnight, end near dawn and put them at risk of injury, like Andy Murray’s second-round win in Melbourne that ended after 4 a.m. Friday. The group also announced its first eight-player executive committee, which includes some of the top young men and women in the game.

There is also CVC Capital Partners, the Luxembourg-based private equity firm that has been working for months to close a $150 million equity investment in the WTA Tour that it views as a first step to becoming a prime player in tennis.

Then there is Sinclair Broadcast Group, the American media conglomerate that owns the Tennis Channel, which wants to expand globally and has been trying to entice the people who run tennis to embrace that effort.

All of them see tennis as uniquely positioned for growth, as a new generation of stars tries to take up the mantle of the last one, a story Netflix highlights in the new documentary series “Break Point.”

Read more —> https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/21/sports/tennis/business-australian-open.html

WHY TENNIS IS THE WORLD’S TOUGHEST SPORT!

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We often tell our players at the club that tennis is the world’s toughest sport.
In the beginning, they think we are kidding, but after reading the reasons laid out in this post they grow to appreciate just how tough our sport really is.  Below are 15 reasons why tennis is the most psychologically demanding sport.
1) TENNIS IS AN INDIVIDUAL SPORT.
In tennis, you are all alone on the court. No one shares in the glory or the blame. There is no teammate to pass off to if you are playing poorly and you cannot be taken out of the game for a while you recuperate from your poor play.
2) NO COACHING IS ALLOWED.
Tennis is one of the only sports where young players are not allowed to receive any coaching. Except for a handful of exceptions like HS tennis, Zonal teams, or Davis Cup, nearly all tournaments do not allow for coaching. The no coaching restriction is unusual in sports and clearly forces young competitors to deal with the pressures and problems of playing on their own.
3) INTENSE PRESSURE AT A YOUNG AGE.
Many successful professional players have reported that the stresses of junior tennis were the greatest of their entire career. For example, Chris Evert has reported that she felt more pressure during her junior career than she did at any other time as a player. The junior player must deal with the same frustrations during tournament play as the adult, but with fewer resources and life experiences to handle them.
4) TENNIS PROVIDES NOWHERE TO HIDE.
Tennis players must remain in full view of spectators, regardless of how they perform. They may desperately wish to hide from the world but they cannot due to the structure and rules of the game. Embarrassment, discouragement, anger, choking, euphoria, they’re all there for everyone to see. Some players dislike this aspect of tennis while others embrace it. Either way, tennis provides little shelter for the emotions that accompany such an exciting game.
5) NO SUBSTITUTES / NO TIME-OUTS.
Many sports allow players to regain their composure or get back on track through the use of substitutions and time-outs. This is not the case in tennis. Players must stay in the game, regardless of how bad or uncomfortable things may get. This is particularly difficult considering that matches can be two or three hours in length.
6) ONE-ON-ONE COMBAT.
Tennis is similar to boxing. You have a real one-on-one opponent that you must defeat to emerge victorious. A match can quickly become a personal confrontation between opponents, especially if an opponent resorts to gamesmanship tactics. Such direct competition can fuel intense rivalries and threaten friendships in powerful ways among young players.
7) THE ACCURACY OF LINE CALLING.
Completely objective, professionally trained linesmen make mistakes all the time. And they are motionless and concerned only with one line. Expecting players in a match to call the lines with the same accuracy is at best unrealistic. Balls traveling at speeds over 50 miles per hour with fractions of an inch separating “out” from “in” provide distinct opportunities for conflict and controversy. Recent studies show that players are actually legally blind at the moment they land on the court when running, this is added to the fact that many matches can be dramatically changed with only one bad call, makes mistakes unavoidable and it is easy to see why tempers can flare. (Imagine what would happen if the batters in little league baseball were responsible for calling balls and strikes against themselves)
8) THE “HONOR” SCORING SYSTEM.
Unlike most other sports, in tennis, a player can take a point that is rightfully their opponent’s by deliberately calling a shot out that had fallen within the lines. The point can be the most important of the match, yet the call stands. There is nothing a player can do about it. Pressures associated with being cheated or being accused of cheating can place tremendous psychological strain on young players.
9) TENNIS REQUIRES TOUCH AND FINESSE.
Tennis is primarily a fine motor skill sport, meaning that it is comprised of many precise movements requiring “feel”. As such, these movements can be influenced significantly by subtle changes in emotion. Anger, fear, frustration, embarrassment, and other such emotions can be very disruptive to the delicate motor control needed in tennis skills such as serving and volleying
10) CONSTANTLY CHANGING CONDITIONS.
Changing temperature, wind intensity of light, court surfaces, balls, altitude, indoor/outdoor play, and equipment add to the depth of the competitive challenge in tennis. Players are forced to deal with changes such as these, many times within the same match. A player’s responses to these situations can provide an indication of their level of mental toughness. Those who are not affected by changes in conditions are often the ones who win.
11) LENGTH OF THE BATTLE.
Few sports require kids to concentrate and perform for as much as three hours at a time. It is not uncommon for 12-year old players to be required to compete in two singles matches and two doubles matches on the same day. Mental toughness and physical fitness become critical if a player is to become successful.
12) THE UNIQUE SCORING SYSTEM IN TENNIS.
The scoring system in tennis adds to the pressure a young player experiences. Unlike many other sports, there is no overall time limit. Play continues until one of the players wins two out of three sets. Consequently, there is no room for coasting on a lead or waiting for time to run out. Each player is always just a few points from a complete turn-around, and a lead is never safe. In contrast, if a basketball team is ahead by 30 points, they will almost certainly win, because their lead is too large to overcome within the time of the competition. In tennis, a player can be ahead 5-0 in the third set, lose two games, and immediately have reason to fear a loss and a huge comeback on their opponent’s part because there is no time clock to run out.
13) JUNIOR TENNIS RANKINGS.
Junior tennis establishes a clear pecking order very quickly through an intricate system of sectional and national rankings. For some young players, rankings become synonymous with self-esteem. They develop feelings of expectation, hope, and failure surrounding rankings, seeds, and titles. This can lead to a great deal of unhappiness if the player’s enjoyment is tied to winning and losing. If you’re one of the best players in 12 & under baseball players in your state, you still won’t ever be ranked so that you know if you are the 1st or 5th best player. But in tennis, you will know exactly where how you compare to your peers and friends.
14) “BIG vs. LITTLE” and “YOUNG vs. OLD”.
Another dimension of tennis is the fact that a nine-year-old child can successfully compete against a 14 or 15 year-old-teenager. A young girl of 14 may be capable of beating a seasoned veteran on the pro tour. Small can beat large, and young can beat old. A 12 year-old boy losing to a 9 year-old or a 6’3” boy losing to someone half his size can be extremely stressful.
15) TENNIS TRAINING CAN BE EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE.
Tennis training for the competitive player can be a very large expense for a family. Many times the pressures from these expenses can add additional stress to the young player who feels guilty if they are not winning because of all the money his parents are putting into his tennis.
Parents can quickly lose sight of what is important and begin to expect a “return” for their investment. This issue is one of the most frequently mentioned by families with players competing at the high national levels.
Despite all these difficulties, tennis is still the best sport for a child to play. It is the only sport that challenges players on the physical, strategic, and psychological levels. It is no coincidence that so many junior tennis players are the best students in their classes. The goal setting and work ethic needed to be successful in tennis are life skills that will help all players as they get older and enter society.
Even the difficulties experienced in junior tennis like dealing with an abusive or cheating opponent, are opportunities to learn life skills that will be an important advantage later in life. Few other sports offer as many of these types of learning opportunities.
Parents and coaches often make the mistake of wanting to get involved or “fix” on-court problems when they happen. The best thing to do is to recognize those episodes as opportunities to learn important life lessons. Children who develop the skills to deal with difficult people at an early age are usually far more successful.

Don’t overthink each point | AskThePro

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I know this sounds pretty crazy, but you should not be trying to think while you are playing a point.

This idea goes against what our mind is telling us as well as what it is trying to do. We will usually have the tendency to try to work things out in our head during the exchange of shots in a point. Unfortunately, this will have a negative impact on all of the practice and training we have done, and it may cause us to make errors due to indecision.

It is much better to just play the point once it starts. [Just focus on bounce hit: Whisperer]

Before the point, choose one technique idea and one strategy idea to remind yourself how you would like to hit the ball and play the point.

After the point is over, assess what has just happened and repeat the one technique, one strategy idea. You may have to make some adjustments based on what the last point was like, but try to keep things simple.
​
On the changeovers you can have a little more detail in your own self-coaching, but overall, try not to over analyze.

Letting your body react automatically and instinctively gives you the best chance to execute your shot and play the point the way you want to. To do this, we need to have less going on in our head.

Don’t think during the point!

Steve Annacone, USPTA Pro

Latest Manly News & Events

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POST OFFICE

Manly’s new Post Office has finally opened its doors this week, nine months after our Post Office and Shop were wrecked by flood water. 

The new PO is around the corner at  Raglan Street.

MANLY EVENTS

Manly Art Gallery & Museum – until 26 Feb

Fair Play bridges the gap between sport and art, domains that have long been considered natural enemies. 

Ruth Downes: Barely Wearable displays thirty ‘wearable’ artworks constructed from an extraordinary range of materials, including aircraft headsets and coffee capsules. 

Northern Beaches Writers’ Competition 2023 – until 31 March

This year’s theme is something that has affected every one of us this year – ‘Rain’.

Writers are invited to enter stories of 2,500 words, plus an image, to tell stories that are ‘not being told’. Details here

New Year’s Eve – 31 Dec

Fireworks will light up the sky in Manly Cove again this New Year’s Eve at 9pm.

There will be road closures around Manly to keep everyone safe, with large crowds expected on the night. 

Aboriginal Heritage Walk – 16th January

Manly Dam from 9am – 10.30am. Details here

Sun Run – Saturday 4th February

Dee Why to Manly.  7km and 10km distances

More details and registration here

Cole Classic Ocean Swim – Sunday 5th February

1, 2, and 5km courses.  More details and registration here

Plantar Fasciitis Is a Real Pain: symptoms, treatment and prevention | Tennis4Life

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The pain starts when you wake up — a stab in your heel when you get out of bed, an ache when you put weight on your foot. The condition is persistent and common; according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 10 percent of people get it.
Plantar fasciitis, an inflammation of the tight band of tissue on the bottom of your foot, can happen to anyone, said Dr. Eveline Tan, a podiatrist at Northwestern Medicine, but it occurs more frequently in people who are on their feet for long periods of time. “It’s probably more common than most people think,” she said, noting that she’s seen a resurgence of patients with the condition as more people have been returning to post-lockdown life. On Monday, Tiger Woods posted on Twitter that he withdrew from a golf tournament because he has developed plantar fasciitis in his right foot, making it difficult to walk.  The condition can be agonizing, but it’s generally temporary, and there are treatments and preventive steps people can take to ward it off.
Is there any way to prevent plantar fasciitis?
“No one is safe from plantar fasciitis,” said Dr. Amiethab Aiyer, an associate professor of orthopedic surgery at Johns Hopkins Medicine. And if you’ve had plantar fasciitis before, you’re more likely to develop the condition again in the future, he said. But there are ways to reduce your risk.  If you’re increasing your level of exercise, build up gradually, and incorporate rest and stretching into your routine, especially stretching your hamstrings, calves and feet, Dr. Walton said. Even stretching your calf over a stair at work or home can help add flexibility, Dr. Pandya said.
Here’s what you need to know.  Read more —>

Talking Shop with Coach Paul Annacone | ATP

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Annacone started his tennis journey as a high-level player, where he had a very respectable pro career that saw him peak at No. 12 in the singles rankings. But he saw the game at an expert level, and was drawn to the coaching ranks where he excelled at a nearly unprecedented rate.
 
He started coaching Pete Sampras in 1995, and was with him for nine major titles. He coached Roger Federer from 2010-13, and the Swiss Maestro won a Wimbledon title and returned to the No. 1 ranking during that span.
 
Annacone was able to use transfer wisdom through teaching methods, and his core coaching philosophy is based on three pillars.  The individual is made up of three things:
  • Their head, which is how they process stuff, how they figure out and problem solve.
  • Their heart, how well they can unconditionally compete.
  • Their physical attributes.
After digesting every bit of those components in his mind, then it was time to transfer the knowledge: “My philosophy is, how simply after that can I say what I need to say, the way they need to hear it.”
 
Sampras and Federer are of the greatest players to ever pick up a racquet, but as Annacone explains, they couldn’t have been more different to coach.
 
Sampras fit into Annacone’s “magician” category, in the sense that he could process information very quickly and didn’t necessarily need a lot of repetition to master certain elements of his game.
 
Federer, on the other hand, wanted to be coached and instructed thoroughly, with the caveat that he would challenge the methods and force Annacone to defend the reasons for his tactics. “I’ve never seen a guy happier on a tennis court,” Annacone said in regards working with Federer during countless practice sessions.
 
“The most important thing [with each player] is they knew themselves really well. Pete knew exactly how he wanted to be to achieve his goals, and Roger knew exactly how he needed to be to achieve his goals. Very different, but it worked for them.”
 

Christmas Chorals

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Christmas Choral Concert
Thu 1 Dec, 6.30 – 8.30pm
Manly Oval

A family fun sing-a-long and a visit from the big man himself.
Learn more

Christmas by the Beach
Fri 9 Dec, 4 – 7.30pm
James Meehan Reserve, Dee Why

Carols, a children’s show, face painting, and photos with Santa. 
Learn more

58 men and 39 women earned at least $1 million in singles and doubles combined in 2022

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Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek topped the prize money lists in 2022, with a combined total of 97 players earning more than $1 million.
Djokovic finished top of the men’s list with $9,934,582, helped by his seventh Wimbledon title, which yielded £2 million (around $2.4 million) and in particular, by his record-equalling sixth ATP Finals title, which brought him a tennis record prize of $4,740,300.
DjokerNole’s $4,740,300 prize money cheque for winning the ATP Finals is the biggest pay-out in tennis history. ?
World No 1 Carlos Alcaraz is second in the list with $7,655,130, thanks in large part to his US Open triumph, while Rafael Nadal, who won the Australian Open and French Open titles, is third with $7,442,076.
ATP Tour top prize money earners in 2022:
Novak Djokovic: $9,934,582
Carlos Alcaraz: $7,655,130
Rafael Nadal: $7,442,076
Casper Ruud: $6,942,316
Stefanos Tsitsipas: $5,648,416
Djokovic’s total for 2022 took his overall career prize money total to $164,691,308, more than $30 million more than the next best, Rafael Nadal, and the recently-retired Roger Federer.
SWIATEK EARNS ALMOST DOUBLE THE NEXT BEST ON WTA TOUR
Winning two Grand Slam titles will always yield a nice return so it’s no surprise that Iga Swiatek should be top of the list on the WTA Tour in 2022.  But the Pole’s six other titles also meant that her total of $9,875,525 was also more than double that of the second-placed woman, Ons Jabeur, who earned $4,997,069, thanks in large part to reaching two Grand Slam finals.  Caroline Garcia is third on the list with $3,729,317 on the back of her win at the WTA Finals. Kai Kanepi was No 39 on the list.
WTA top prize money earners in 2022:
Iga Swiatek: $9,875,525
Ons Jabeur: $4,997,069
Caroline Garcia: $3,729,317
Elena Rybakina: $3,613,440
Jessica Pegula: $3,611,716
FOUR DOUBLES PAIRS MADE $1 MILLION IN DOUBLES ALONE
Four doubles pairs made $1 million from doubles alone.  Rajeev Ram and Joe Salsibury, who won the season-ending ATP Finals, topped the list, ahead of Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski, and Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic. Mektic was No 58 on the men’s list.
Only one women’s pair made more than $1 million in doubles alone – Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova – but Krejcikova had the unique distinction of earning more than $1 million in singles as well.

Tennis By The Numbers | AskThePro

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When I was a young aspiring player, I often lost tennis matches by being too adventurous, which is my attempt to avoid admitting I was very impatient. I enjoyed playing the front court as much or more than staying near the baseline, and I never saw a short ball I did not want to attack.

Even by the age of twelve I would try and dominate my opponents with strong shots, or I would even serve and volley. Naturally, a game style with this risk profile produces plenty or errors. (In addition to an occasional spectacular play). After lost matches coaches would always tell me the number of unforced errors I had made. I never knew what to do with this information. (It’s not like it was my intention.)

“You made 41 unforced errors today!” a coach would say.

“What does that even mean,” I would respond rebelliously. “You’re just going for too much.”

I struggled with this feedback. How can I learn from this? In hindsight, I wish the coach would have helped me with situational play. When did the errors occur? How long were the rallies before I missed? When may I give myself permission to attack and when is patience more prudent. Certainly, an unforced error at the score of 40-0 is different from one produced at 30-40, don’t you agree?

Last week I was having a conversation with one of my adult clients about her most recent match. She mentioned that she had made too many unforced errors, and then she added a few more stats that she probably got from watching tennis on television. I told her that I was getting the gist of what she was saying, but I still could not get a good feel for the match as stats do not always paint the entire picture. I said that some stats are completely useless, and others can be counter intuitive.

“What ya talking ‘bout Willis?” (she did not actually say this) I continued by asking my Harvard- educated student the following question:

“After the match, what would yourather have the stat sheet say regarding break points, 2/3 or 4/17?”

She looked at me slightly confused (she suspected it was a set up): “I want to say 2/3, but it’s probably wrong, isn’t it?”

“Yes”, I continued. “Think about it, a 66.67 percent success rate (2/3) is indeed much better than a 23.5 percent (4/17), but in this case it is still better to break your opponent’s serve four times, instead of only two”.

She agreed to it being counter intuitive. I only mentioned that my client was Harvard-educated to show that intelligence was not in question here. I wasn’t teaching Penny, the waitress from the Cheesecake factory (no offense if you are a waitress, or don’t like The Big Bang Theory).

For some reason we look at all those break point opportunities and consider it a failure. What can we learn from this? The more opportunities we give ourselves, the better it is. A mindset of neutrality will be helpful here, an unattached approach to the outcome: if the break happens, great. If not, great.

Another stat in this realm is net points won/lost. When you look at a ratio of 4/9, you might judge it as a bad ratio. The player won four points at net, and she lost five points. What if I were to tell you that those four points won were all at break point! Then we might conclude that the nine attempts at net were not enough. If she had attacked the net twelve times for instance, she might not have needed those seventeen breakpoints! Your personal call to courage and to be brave at the right moments is a key strength for a competitor.

In any case, tennis stats are helpful, but have their limitations. Match play will still come down to being patient at the right times, being courageous at the right moments, and staying disciplined all match. Use the stats to dig into those areas more specifically. Answer the questions ‘when’ and ‘why”!

[Our Tennis Whisperer teaches the GHOST LINE strategy to answer the ‘when’ and ‘why’ questions — emphasis added]

Tonny van de Pieterman is a tennis professional at Point Set Indoor Racquet Club in Oceanside, NY. He has previously been named USTA Tennis Professional of the Year for the USTA/Eastern-Long Island Region.

https://longislandtennismagazine.com/tennis-numbers Tennis By The Numbers | Long Island Tennis Magazine

Netflix is About to Transform The Tennis World

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Tennis is coming to Netflix. An unnamed, yet much-anticipated documentary will provide an all-access look into the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tours and is certain to expand tennis viewership.
By following certain big-name players throughout the 2022 ATP season and providing an unfiltered behind-the-scenes look into their livelihoods, training, struggles, successes and travel, the documentary, rumored to start airing episodes before the 2023 Australian Open, is likely to influence fans to want to become personally invested in their favorite stars, which would draw year-long interest in the sport. From people looking to binge-watch a new show to those wanting to dive into a new sport, the documentary will captivate a diverse new audience of tennis fans.
The four Grand Slam tournaments are the mecca of tennis, and fan viewership in recent years has been steadily growing, largely because of increased coverage from major sports channels like ESPN. However, smaller ATP and WTA events throughout the year, which have been covered by local stations and the Tennis Channel, fail to garner much public interest, and tennis viewership as a whole pales in comparison to viewership of other major sports in the U.S., like football or basketball.
Netflix plans on featuring former world No. 1 champions Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal; Nick Kyrgios, a finalist at the 2022 Wimbledon tournament; and newly crowned U.S. Open champion Carlos Alcaraz.
On the WTA tour, current world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, as well as reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, will showcase their lives on tour. In a statement about the series, Netflix promises to broadcast equal coverage to ATP and WTA players, differentiating itself from other sports documentaries and providing greater appeal for fans of all genders.
“The series will also be the first sports program of its kind to provide an equal platform to the men’s and women’s competitors of the sport, in keeping with the equal stage they share throughout the year,” the statement reads.
Having insight into the life of tennis players on tour may help audiences, and younger kids, develop an appreciation for the sport. Tennis has lacked an American icon since the age of Andre Agassi and John McEnroe and struggles to make a mark in American popular culture. Netflix might be the driving force of change.