(Getty) Tennis has readily established itself as one both one of the most lucrative and elite, as well as one of the toughest sports to become professional and earn a living. Other sports such as soccer and rugby attract and sustain higher numbers of youth athletes that transition to professional levels in Australia. So perhaps, instead of the other widely discussed and debated issues with Australian grassroots tennis, could it be the lack of options and opportunities to earn

Australia's Chris O'Connell at the Cincinnati Masters. (Getty/Emilee Chinn) Aussie Chris O'Connell is currently managing an injury, giving him a personal reminder of the physical demands of professional tennis. Yet the 32-year-old is reluctant to join the growing chorus of players criticising the tour's schedule. "I'm someone that doesn't really get too involved or, I guess, speak my mind on some of these sorts of topics because at the end of the day, I love playing tennis,"

A discussion paper on the foundations of Australian player development. Sent to The First Serve Kevin Klose | Albury NSW Australian tennis is rightly asking why too few players appear capable of succeeding at the highest level. You have warned that the foreseeable future could be among the most barren periods in Australia’s rich tennis history, while John Newcombe, Lleyton Hewitt and John Millman have raised their own concerns about player development and the junior pathwa

(Credit: Mike Ruane/Picture Story Agency) It has been a big year for weddings on the professional tennis tours. Alex de Minaur and Katie Boulter tied the knot in July. Casper Ruud married long-time partner Maria Galligani. Tommy Paul married Paige Lorenze. Daria Kasatkina, Liudmila Samsonova, Asia Muhammad, Bernarda Pera and Tereza Mihalikova were also among a remarkable run of tennis weddings in 2026, while Alexei Popyrin and Harmony Tan have joined the newlywed club. The ph

Australia's Tristan Schoolkate at the US Open. (Getty/Julian Finney) For all the glamour of professional tennis, there is a less visible side to life on tour: the cost of actually getting there. Flights, accommodation, food, coaching, equipment and support staff can quickly turn professional tennis into a six-figure business. But exactly how much a player needs to spend varies enormously depending on their ranking, ambitions and circumstances. Former top-100 Aussie, Tristan S

The collegiate sports community in the US has been rocked by recent discourse and uproar over the number of international athletes featured on sports rosters. One of the main sports involved in this heated topic is tennis, following the proposal of a 20 per cent international cap on American collegiate sports rosters by former professional player and U.S. Davis Cup captain, as well as analyst Patrick McEnroe. But what do the coaches behind the recruiting have to say about it?

Rajeev Ram playing his final US Open. (Getty/Dustin Satloff Rajeev Ram has been one of the most exciting doubles players of the last two decades. With a game so closely modelled on Pete Sampras that he was given the moniker 'Rampras', he has translated immense promise on the singles court, with two ATP titles, into an incredible doubles career which included 6 Grand Slams and two Olympic silver medals. After barely playing this year with injury, few expected much from what

Todd Woodbridge on stage with Cruz Hewitt at the 2025 Newcombe Awards. (Getty/Graham Denholm) Australia's win over Poland on the weekend ended a 19-month drought without a Davis Cup tie victory, following previous defeats against Belgium and Ecuador. As 28-time winners of the competition, Australia returning to next year's qualifiers for a chance to compete at the 2027 Finals is the bare minimum for a country with a proud tennis history. So many Aussie legends have created mo

Aryna Sabalenka after losing the US Open final. (Getty/Sarah Stier) The 2026 US Open crowned its two new champions, Elena Rybakina on the women's side and Alex Zverev on the men's. However, it's the finalists and the starkly different reactions to their post-final reactions and behaviour that have the media in a stir. Aryna Sabalenka has once again faced a barrage of scrutiny, while Ben Shelton has received swarms of praise. What does this tell us about the price of "emoti

(Getty/Brian Friedman) Tennis has had plenty of defining storytelling moments throughout its history. In years gone by, these stories were solidified at the Grand Slams and witnessed by fans who walked through the gates or watched, enthralled, on television at home. If you missed it, you could catch a highlights package or read the top stories in the newspaper the next day. Nowadays, storytelling in tennis extends beyond the matches themselves, with a huge online audience fol

Mika Brunold and João Lucas Reis Silva. Hours before the tennis world turned its attention to Ben Shelton and Alexander Zverev in the US Open final, another men's title match was unfolding at the NÖ Open Challenger in Tulln, Austria. The tournament was being played on a nondescript clay court in a town of around 16,000 people, but the occasion was almost as historic as the one in New York. The final pitted Brazilian João Lucas Reis da Silva against 21-year-old Swiss Mika Brun

(Getty/Mark Metcalfe) As a new CEO, the number-one rule to avoid disrupting the 'apple cart' is to listen and learn before making major changes. Since officially taking on the Tennis Australia CEO role from Craig Tiley last month, The First Serve understands that Andrew Abdo has already met with past players and experienced people in Australian tennis circles to understand the work required. Abdo, 49, listened carefully to the advice and feedback provided. And for someone wi

(Getty/Marie LaFauci) With the growing popularity of junior tennis players in Australia choosing the collegiate path, there is a whirlpool of information about what a player needs to do to get recruited. Much of the information available to players and parents is vague, expensive, or contradictory, which only confuses the process further. But what do actual collegiate coaches truly look for in their recruitment process? With so many recruiting agencies, social media groups,

Lleyton Hewitt with the 2001 US Open trophy. (Getty/Ezra Shaw) Australia has its own hard-court Grand Slam, played in familiar conditions, with Australian crowds behind its players and more opportunities for locals to get into the draw. So since the Australian Open moved to Melbourne Park and switched from grass to hard courts in 1988, you would expect it to be the hard-court major where Australians have enjoyed the most success. Except, over nearly four decades, they haven't

(Getty/Clive Brunskill) Injuries are part and parcel of any professional sport. How you deal with them, how you find a way to avoid them through meticulous preparation and recovery, will go a long way toward deciding how long you can compete. Some are luckier than others, of course, but as the US Open begins in New York this weekend, there is a growing feeling that something needs to be done to extend professional tennis players' careers. None of this is new. Players have lon

Dane Sweeny competing at the 2026 Australian Open. (Getty/David Gray) For every Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz lifting Grand Slam trophies, there are hundreds of professional tennis players living a very different reality. They criss-cross the globe chasing ranking points, booking budget flights, sharing accommodation and carefully calculating whether the next tournament is financially worthwhile. They are good enough to be among the best players in the world, but not yet es

(Getty/Bradley Kanaris) Nick Kyrgios deserves some compassion as he confronts another difficult period in his life. But after years spent passing unforgiving judgment on other players, he cannot expect the tennis world to ignore the hypocrisy. There is something extremely ironic about the possibility that Nick Kyrgios' professional career may end this way. Not with one final night match out on John Cain Arena at the Australian Open. Not with another on-court blow-up at Wimble

Alexei Popyrin and Dane Sweeny. (Getty) A wildcard is a noun meaning an unpredictable factor, a special tournament spot, a flexible playing card, or a computer search symbol. That is the dictionary definition of a wildcard. In tennis terms, it allows a player to enter a tournament without meeting standard qualification rules. 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 tennis program on com

At 31, Jeremy Beale stood behind the baseline at an ITF tournament in Brisbane, preparing to serve. His hands were trembling. It had been almost three years since his last professional tournament, and now he was back. But there was no protected ranking, guaranteed main draw, or shortcut back to where he had once been. Beale was starting again in qualifying. Comebacks are nothing new in tennis. At the top of the sport, established players can return in their 30s with the rank

(Getty/Matthias Hangst) For decades, the formula for following professional tennis was simple. Fans tuned into live broadcasts, read newspaper reports the following morning and perhaps caught a highlights package on television. The biggest tournaments dominated the conversation, while everything in between largely passed by unnoticed. Today, that model has been turned on its head. A growing number of fans are discovering the sport through YouTube creators, podcasts, social me