Wynee Warden Tennis Centre at Florida Southern College. Transferring in college has become a controversial topic of discourse in the collegiate tennis world. But the question of transferring for a player is never an easy one. So, how does a collegiate tennis player know it is time to hit the portal due to the coach, team, surroundings, or circumstances at their current program? Any collegiate athletic program, but especially a collegiate tennis team, is essentially a puzzle.

(Getty/Daniel Kopatsch) The start of this year's Roland Garros has been dominated by two things: unprecedented heat, which is stifling, and a debate about prize money, which caused almost as much fuss. Unhappy about the cash on offer, players staged a mini-revolt on media day, two days before the start of the tournament, fulfilling only 15 minutes of their usual press time. When the protest was announced, my first thought was that 15 minutes is an improvement - most pressers

Sadio Doumbia (left) and Fabien Reboul (right). (Getty/Georg Wendt) As the tennis world turns its attention to Roland Garros, France's leading men's doubles team is attracting attention for more than just its results. Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul arrive in Paris as one of the world's top doubles pairings and genuine contenders to make a deep run on home clay. Australian tennis fans will be somewhat familiar with the duo after their exploits during the summer here. The pai

(Getty/Anne-Christine Poujoulat) Five years is a long time in tennis. If you don't believe so, look no further than to ask Stefanos Tsitsipas. Throughout the mid-2000s, Greece pinned their hopes on Marcos Baghdatis for Grand Slam glory, having fallen short in the 2006 decider at Melbourne Park. But Greece were ultimately clutching at straws, because Baghdatis actually represented Cyprus, a country which shares deep colonial history, language and heritage. So when a then-20-y

(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

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/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

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

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

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

Ajla Tomljanović spending time with the Hot Shot Tennis for Kids program. (Tennis Australia) There has been a lot of discussion recently around junior development and whether Australia is truly developing players or simply developing good ball strikers. Recently, there were comments suggesting that there are plenty of coaches capable of teaching strong clay court skills. To be fair, every state in Australia does have access to clay in some capacity, even if some regions nat

(Getty/Oscar J. Barroso) There must be something in the water in Spain. Just when we thought Spanish tennis couldn't get any stronger, we seem to have stumbled across another future superstar. He goes by the name of Rafael Jódar, and he's just 19 years of age. The Spanish teen had a remarkable rise in 2025, rising over 700 spots in the rankings before turning professional at the end of the season. So far in 2026, Jódar has put on one of the most impressive debut seasons in A

(Getty/Simon Skafar) September to December is the most dreaded period on the calendar for hay fever sufferers, with symptoms ranging from just a few sneezes to severe headaches. From April to June, the season of clay fever hits Australian tennis like a ton of bricks. The Madrid Open was yet another example of just how far behind Australia is in terms of the execution of clay court tennis. All 10 Aussies failed to surpass the second round of the ATP/WTA 1000 main draw, with mo

Spend an hour at any high-level junior tennis session, and you'll see excellent coaching. Players repeating forehands and backhands, working on serve technique, refining movement patterns. The standard of ball-striking continues to improve, and there is no question that technical coaching in the modern game is, generally, at a high level. But if you step back and ask a different question — how many of those players can clearly explain how they are trying to win points, how th

(Getty/Clive Brunskill) Cameron Norrie's tennis career has never followed a straight path. Born in South Africa, he was raised in New Zealand, but due to a lack of funding, chose to represent Great Britain. His development took another turn through the American college system at Texas Christian University, bringing him late to the ATP Tour and eventually breaking into the top 100 just before turning 23. That steady build began to accelerate to a standout year in 2021. Norrie

(Getty/Clive Brunskill) Injuries have long been synonymous with the professional tennis scene, but it has become increasingly evident that tennis has shifted from reacting to injuries and toward preventing them through the utilisation of technology to analyse, track, improve, and maintain technique, physical and mental health, and performance. Wearable player metric technologies, such as smart watches, trackers, biophysical sensors, and even clothing technologies, are being

John Fitzgerald at the 2024 Newcombe Medal Awards. (Getty/Graham Denholm) The first time I watched doubles tennis, I was instantly hooked. Walking around the grounds of the Sydney tennis tournament in my early teens, I stumbled upon the Bryan Brothers, the identical twins who had firmly established themselves as the GOATs of doubles, with their silky smooth volleys, perfect single-handed backhands and a synergy that was hard to believe as they moved in unison around the court