(Getty/Daniel Pockett) Before Day 1 of Billie Jean King Cup qualifying commenced, Australia were heavy favourites to knock off Great Britain. Now, not so much. The Aussies, captained by Sam Stosur, hosted the Brits at Melbourne's John Cain Arena in the first of two-day ties, with a spot in September's BJK Cup Finals in Shenzhen, China, up for grabs. Australia's top-ranked player, Maya Joint, was made unavailable due to a back injury, while Great Britain has been made to do wi

The great Billie Jean King in attendance for the 2025 BJK Cup Finals. (Getty/VCG) As Billie Jean King once told Lindsay Davenport during a Fed Cup tie in 2000, "pressure is a privilege". To represent your country in any capacity is a privilege. Wearing your nation's colours should be a spine-tingling occasion, no matter if it's a debut or a 100th appearance. Not to say that players aren't invested or that they don't care at all, but it's getting to the point where the Billie

(Getty/Hanne Vandewinkel) I have spoken quite a bit over the last year about Australia's talent stocks going forward, and the jury is very much out long term whether we can produce a decent group of players to reach the top 100 in the next 5-10 years on both the men's and women's sides. But for you, the tennis fan, your eyes and interests are also global as we are all curious about the names that will rise through the ranks and make their mark on the game going forward. Looki

(Getty/Quality Sport Images) As the toxic nature of betting continues to be a cause for concern on social media for professional players, it's no different on court. World No.301 Abdullah Shelbayh was subjected to threats and racist comments from a group of spectators during his ATP Challenger match in Madrid on Tuesday. The Jordanian qualifier, who lost in three sets to fifth seed Zsombor Piros, temporarily halted play trailing 0-3 in the deciding set, as he pleaded with the

(Getty/Jean Catuffe) Renowned coach Patrick Mouratoglou has issued a chilling warning about the future of tennis, predicting that "there won't be anymore tennis" if the sport's lack of interest from young fans continues. Mouratoglou, who has previously coached the likes of Serena Williams, Simona Halep, and Naomi Osaka, created the concept of the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS), a shortened, faster-paced game aimed at attracting a new audience. The exhibition event was recentl

(Getty) There is no denying it. Australians currently find themselves in uncertain times. Cost of living and inflation (expected to rise as high as six per cent as the war in the Middle East drags on) are taking a stranglehold on households. Rising fuel and supermarket prices, along with an uptick in interest rates, have forced many families across the country to be extra cautious about how they spend their hard-earned cash. When it comes to sports subscriptions in a mad-lovi

(Getty/Tim Clayton) Just days after former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanišević defended his extraordinary comments about Stefanos Tsitsipas' professionalism, the Greek star has told his side of the story. Ivanišević, who famously coached Novak Djokovic to 12 Grand Slam titles, joined Tsitsipas' team as coach before the grass court season last year. That period was a disaster for Tsitsipas, retiring after two sets in his first round match at Wimbledon because of a chronic back

Marco Trungelliti. (Getty/Clive Bunskill) At 36 years and 64 days old, Argentina's Marco Trungelliti will next week officially debut in the top 100, becoming the oldest man in the Open era to do so. In 2018, he lost in qualifying at Roland-Garros and decided to head back home to Barcelona, with his 90-year-old grandmother coming to visit. But when he was called up as a Lucky Loser, with no trains running, he drove 10 hours by car with his mother, brother and grandmother to co

Jiří Lehečka celebrates in Miami. (Getty/Rich Storry) Czech player Jiří Lehečka made headlines recently by reaching the final of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Miami. It was the best result of his career and lifted him to a career-high ranking of world No.14. From the outside, it looks like a breakthrough, but from a Czech perspective, it looked almost like regular programming. For a nation of just over 10 million people, this kind of result is no longer surprising. Czech

(Getty/Ricardo Ceppi) Throughout part of the 1970s, Guillermo Vilas was the best tennis player in the world.   Fifty years ago, he should have begun the 1976 season as men's world No.1 tennis player. And yet decades on, he's still yet to be recognised with the title.   I've asked family and colleagues about Vilas in this era. Aside from memories of that hair, he was understandably an icon: a man who elevated tennis' status among global sports and one who brought South Americ

A lingering back injury suffered at Indian Wells, has now forced Australia's highest ranked female player Maya Joint out of the upcoming Billie Jean King Cup Team to face Great Britain. The 19-year-old is still rehabilitating, hoping to be right for the claycourt season leading into Roland-Garros. Her replacement in the squad will be former world No.1 junior Emerson Jones. The 17-year-old at a career high No.136 in the WTA singles rankings, could become one of the youngest f

Lesia Tsurenko. (Getty/Vaughn Ridley) Having once suffered a panic attack before facing Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka, it's been revealed that former world No.23 Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko had her lawsuit against the WTA over its handling of the war in Ukraine dismissed. Nikita Vlasov, her coach, shared damning allegations with French newspaper L'Équipe regarding Russia's invasion of Ukraine and how Ukrainian players are not protected. "WTA chief Steve Simon knows the names of Russi

(Getty/Phil Walter) Technology has slowly but surely infiltrated every aspect of tennis, from racquet and line-calling to how fans interact with players through social media. One controversial aspect is wearable player metric technologies, and how they are developing, challenging, and progressing the game.  Wearable player metric technologies utilise technology through wearables such as smart watches, trackers, biophysical sensors, and even clothing technologies to monitor, t

A year ago, Omar Jasika spoke candidly with The First Serve about the growing issue of online abuse in professional tennis. At the time, it felt like a serious but still under-discussed problem. Twelve months later, little has improved. If anything, the volume, severity, and normalisation of that abuse have intensified. Recent reporting by The First Serve has highlighted how online abuse is rising in tandem with sports betting. For players operating on the Challenger circuit

A proposed A$7 million privately funded High Performance Tennis Centre in Queensland has been stalled for more than two years, due to a planning deadlock between Moreton Bay Regional Council, the Queensland State Government and the State Planning Authority. Despite broad acknowledgment by all parties that the project is trapped in a bureaucratic loop, no pathway forward has been identified, raising serious questions about how privately funded, community-focused sporting infra

I have discussed at length over the past year what the future stocks of Australian men's tennis look like regarding the current group and casting an eye forward with big question marks around whether a cohort of young players with more time on their side can turn into top 100 players, possibly top 50 players, or maybe a future Grand Slam champion. Many people have shared the same concerns as the clock ticks for our existing bunch of men in the 1-130 ranking bracket who sit in

Danielle Collins and Corentin Moutet (Getty) Tennis entertainer and Miami Open 30th seed Corentin Moutet has fired back at Danielle Collins regarding claims that he slid into the American's DMs and unfollowed her. Appearing on the desk as a Tennis Channel analyst following a persistent back injury and completing egg-freezing procedures, Collins continued with the show's new segment, Storytime with Danielle. Listen to The First Serve Live every Monday at 8pm AEDT in its 18th y

(Getty/Chris Arjoon) Former world No.1 Naomi Osaka is beginning to question her future in the sport in the wake of another early exit, describing her situation as a "dilemma". The four-time major winner bowed out in the second round of the WTA 1000 Miami Open to in-form Aussie Talia Gibson 5-7, 4-6, where Osaka was unable to break her opponent's serve once. Since reaching the US Open semi-finals last year, Osaka has yet to win more than two matches in one tournament. Listen t

(Getty/Robert Prezioso) The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) have published the full decision behind Marinko Matosevic's four-year blood doping ban, which reveals several text messages. Before being due to appear in court last month, former world No.39 Matosevic reached out to The First Serve to release a statement to clarify his situation involving the use of a banned substance. "It's with a heavy heart and a clear mind as I write this. I have been under investi

(Getty/Robert Prezioso) Former Australian player Marinko Matosevic has released a statement in response to being handed a four-year ban by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA). On Monday, an independent tribunal determined that Matosevic committed five anti-doping rule violations between 2018 and 2020, including the use of a prohibited method through blood doping (while an active player) and facilitating another player to blood dope, providing advice to other play