(Getty/Dan Istitene) World No.3 Alexander Zverev felt the need to clarify his comments about Jannik Sinner and the rest of the field. The German star, who is seeded second at Roland Garros due to the withdrawal of Carlos Alcaraz, took care of Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi in straight sets without too much difficulty in his opening round in Paris. Listen to The First Serve Live every Monday at 8pm AEST in its 18th year on the SEN Network/App, Australia's only dedicated weekly tenni

(Getty/Mark Metcalfe) After months of searching for the right candidate to succeed Craig Tiley, Tennis Australia has confirmed the appointment of Andrew Abdo as the new CEO. In the early hours of Monday morning, news broke regarding Abdo's resignation as NRL CEO after six years in the job. Abdo's tenure as NRL chief executive delivered great success, achieving record crowd figures and TV ratings and leading the way on expansion projects in Perth and Papua New Guinea. "Andrew

(Clive Brunskill/Getty Images) Casper Ruud is the unfortunate owner of a bizarre statistic. When he lost to Jannik Sinner in the Rome Masters final earlier in May, it was the fourth time the Norwegian had faced a player looking to create history. First, there was the 2022 French Open final. Ruud came up short against Rafael Nadal, who broke his own record of 13 Roland Garros titles whilst also winning a then-record 22nd Grand Slam title in the process. Then there was th

(Getty/Professional Sport - Popperfoto) At clay court major time, if the answer is Pat Rafter, the question, probably, is this: who was Australia's last male singles semi-finalist at Roland Garros? We're talking about a serve-volleyer, of course. A future two-time Wimbledon finalist (on grass) and soon-to-be dual US Open champion (on hard). So, well, clay? Really? In Paris, which has hosted the least successful Slam for two generations of Australian men? Among the current coh

(Getty Images) Thirteen Australians will line up in the second major of 2026, as the French Open gets underway Sunday Night Australian time. The Grand Slam stage is where players clearly want to excel, but the clay courts of Roland Garros have not historically produced Australia's best major results, so the challenge has been set once again. Ash Barty, our last female champion in 2019, while on the men’s side, Rod Laver in 1969. That, combined with the first five months of

Darren Cahill coaching Jannik Sinner ahead of Roland-Garros. (Getty/Tim Clayton) One of the biggest things I've recently reflected on through conversations with many coaches is this: We spend so much time building coaching businesses, designing programs for athletes of various levels, creating lesson plans that look visually impeccable, and running sessions that appear "perfect" out of fear of outside-the-fence judgment, retention, and the pressure to constantly improve playe

(Getty/Julian Finney) According to a report from The New York Times, a range of players will follow through on a media protest at the upcoming French Open, as a settlement over prize money has yet to be reached. It comes after players such as Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff hinted that players could potentially boycott future Grand Slam events. "I think at some point we will boycott it, yeah," said world No.1 Sabalenka during her pre-tournament press conference at the Italian

(Getty/Massimo Insabato) The Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup were among the first events that made me fall in love with tennis. From Australia coming back from two rubbers down against Kazakhstan on grass in Darwin in the Davis Cup to the epic Billie Jean King Cup win against a full-strength Belarus side in the semi-finals in 2019, some of my favourite tennis memories are from the team competitions. Since the formats of both events have changed to a centralised location

Alexander Bogatyrev, Getty Images The Kooyong Classic is proud to announce a new two-year broadcast partnership with SBS, reaffirming the network’s commitment to bringing world-class tennis to Australian audiences free-to-air. Under the renewed agreement, SBS will continue as the official Australian broadcast partner of the Kooyong Classic for the 2027 and 2028 tournaments, with coverage available nationally on SBS and SBS On Demand. The partnership represents a significant e

Aryna Sabalenka alongside coach Anton Dubrov (Getty/Tim Clayton) Tennis has long been dominated by the likes of the Big Four and Serena Williams, while Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Iga Świątek and Aryna Sabalenka have taken the mantle as the tour level kingpins. With their stranglehold on tennis, it can make it mightily difficult for opposing players to front up mentally or maintain the belief that they can compete for some of the sport's big titles. That's where coaches co

(Adam Davy/PA Images via Getty Images) The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, which stages The Championships, Wimbledon, has announced that Sally Bolton OBE will step down as Chief Executive after The Championships 2026, following six years in the role. Appointed in 2020, Bolton has led the Club through a period of significant change and challenge. She oversaw Wimbledon's return following the global pandemic, ensuring the successful and safe resumption of The Champio

Final interviews to replace Craig Tiley as Tennis Australia CEO have been completed, as a decision looms within the next month, The First Serve understands. Current Western Bulldogs president and Tennis Australia board member Kylie Watson-Wheeler had been mentioned to The First Serve as a potential candidate, but Tennis Australia have since confirmed that she was never in the process. The favourite to take over the coveted CEO position is Tom Larner, who is currently the Chie

UTR Sports Senior Vice President, Chase Hodges. (Georgia Gwinnett University) Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) officially began the UTR Pro Tennis Tour on January 1, 2021. Since its inception, it has actively shaped the game of tennis for collegiate and lower-ranked professional players for over half a decade now. While the foundations of the UTR Pro Tennis Tour have always been to provide opportunities and incentives where they have traditionally lacked in professional tennis,

(Getty/Alberto Pizzoli) In the men's game, 2026 has, so far, been the Sinner era. It started as the Alcaraz era after the Spaniard completed the set of Grand Slam titles at the 2026 Australian Open, before more silverware at the Qatar Open. Then, after a couple of surprising losses and a wrist injury that he sustained in Barcelona, the Spanish superstar is now on the sidelines until at least Wimbledon. Since then, Jannik Sinner has not only been dominant but largely unchallen

(Getty/Julian Finney) World No.50 Jack Draper has parted company with coach Jamie Delgado, opening the door for Andy Murray to join his coaching team for the grass season. Murray, a former world No.1 and three-time major champion, will tackle his first coaching role since his short stint with Novak Djokovic last year. "I am very grateful for everything Jamie Delgado has done for me over these past six months. He is a world-class coach and a great man," said former world No.4

Tim Jolley (Tennis Australia) First appointed by Tennis Australia in 2020, chief strategy and performance officer Tim Jolley has spoken publicly about the state of Australian tennis and addressed concerns from those within. Tennis Australia is going through a massive transition period, with Craig Tiley currently in the process of helping narrow down a suitable candidate to replace him as CEO and Australian Open tournament director, as the 65-year-old was announced as the USTA

Tristan Schoolkate. (Getty/Darrian Traynor) For players around the edge of the top 100, they can miss the automatic entry needed for the biggest ATP events on clay. Staying in Europe can mean missing main draw or even qualifying cut-offs, then trying to chase points on a surface that may not suit their game. "The swing is attractive simply because it's played on hard courts, the events are still relatively strong and are filled with a lot of players who have the same idea," S

Heath Davidson and Andy Lapthorne after finishing runners-up in the Quad Wheelchair Doubles final. (Getty/Kelly Defina) The talk of the town at this current minute involves the world's best singles players fighting hard for a larger slice of the Grand Slam revenue pie. Respective world No.1's Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner, along with Novak Djokovic, Iga Świątek, and Coco Gauff, have expressed their disappointment over Roland-Garros' decision to offer players just 14.9 per

(Getty/Alex Nicodim) By far the most outspoken player on tour when it comes to the ongoing war in Ukraine, Oleksandra Oliynykova has taken another swipe at the WTA for threats made against her. In an Instagram post sent out at the end of April, Olyniykova revealed shocking allegations regarding the professional women's tour, saying that she has been "threatened with fines of tens of thousands of dollars" and "disqualification" by the WTA. In the same post, she alleged that fo

(Julian Finney/Getty Images) World No.1 Jannik Sinner has joined other top players in voicing his disappointment at the recently announced French Open prize money. He has asked Grand Slam tournaments to show tennis players respect in the row over prize money, but didn't go as far as saying to boycott the sport's major events. Last year, almost all the leading players signed two letters to the four Grand Slam bosses demanding an increase in prize money, payments into a player