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

(Getty/Minas Panagiotakis) Brazil has a long and proud tennis history, with Gustavo Kuerten and Maria Bueno carrying the torch for many years amidst passionate Brazilian fandom at the tournament in Rio and other events around Brazil and many a parochial Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup atmosphere. However, in recent years there has been somewhat of a singles drought, with the main stalwarts being Thiago Monteiro on the men's side and Beatriz Haddad Maia on the women's side,

(Getty/Brendon Thorne) You don't usually think of 'team' when you think of tennis, do you? Well, that's because tennis has always been known as an individual sport. Even though doubles utilises a pair, singles and the heightened individuality of the tennis environment have always been evident. But over the years, we have seen a variety of formats, leagues, and organisations embrace a team environment in tennis. From the Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup to college tennis to

Bernard Tomic in action at the Los Cabos Open. (Getty/Matthew Stockman) For anyone newly exposed to tennis, it can be somewhat confusing to learn the counterintuitive rules and bizarre traditions. There's the '99 per cent in' rule, where any microscopic part of the ball touching the white line is considered 100 per cent in, losing a point for a hat falling off, the Wimbledon all-white dress code, among others that make the sport unique in its own right. Even the scoring syste

(Photo credits: Tennis Australia, Getty/Tim Clayton) John McEnroe once told a story about what it is like to be a famous parent. Sitting in the stands watching one of his sons play basketball, he was quiet, a surprise to those who had spotted him there and who no doubt expected him to behave as he occasionally did on the tennis court. Instead, he was calm, trying to be supportive without getting too involved. "I get bottled up in a way," McEnroe told a small group of British

INTENNSE Tennis arena in Georgia. INTENNSE Tennis is a US professional tennis league that transforms the traditional tennis playing and viewing experience into a fast-paced, excitement-packed co-ed team adventure during the American summer months. Played in a custom-built arena at Assembly Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, INTENNSE lives up to its name by creating a new tennis culture that provides extended opportunities for players to compete and earn prize money outside of the

(Getty/David Ramos) The WTA has introduced mandatory genetic testing for every player seeking to compete on the women's professional tour. The policy has largely been discussed through the lens of transgender participation in sport, But the athletes most likely to receive an unexpected result may not be transgender women. They may be women who have always lived and competed as women, but unknowingly have an intersex variation. Under the new policy, players must complete a one

There was a time when preparing for an opponent meant little more than watching a few matches and listening to a coach's observations. Today, professional tennis players walk onto the court armed with pages of scouting reports, heat maps, serving tendencies, return patterns and video analysis. Data has become one of the sport's most powerful competitive tools. But as tennis becomes increasingly analytical, it raises an intriguing question: are players becoming better decisio

(Getty/Yagiz Gurtug) Whenever a story emerges about wildcards in tennis, it almost always creates a divisive discussion. Those fortunate enough to receive a wildcard are often questioned about whether they are deserving. Those responsible for handing them out are questioned about their criteria and selection process. Those on the outside question if they are even necessary. Controversy struck four years ago when an investigative exclusive by The First Serve detailed the frust

(Getty/Nicolò Campo) Doubles tennis is at an inflection point: with new proposals under discussion, the future of the discipline is uncertain, and a war is set to erupt between the players and the governing bodies. There are certainly a few problems to be solved, with the watchability of men's doubles increasingly becoming an issue, as I have argued in the past. This problem perhaps reached breaking point at Wimbledon this year, with Henry Patten and Harri Heliövaara winning

(Getty/Francois Nel) Carlos Alcaraz sprinting full speed into the doubles alley, sliding into the advertising boards before somehow flicking a forehand winner back into play, has become one of the defining images of modern tennis. It truly is breathtaking to watch. But with the Spaniard sidelined since April, it also raises an important question. Has professional tennis reached the point where the human body is struggling to keep up? The game has never been faster, stronger

The state-of-the-art Jim Elphick Tennis Centre in Wagga Wagga. The 2026 NSW Country Closed Open and Junior Championships produced some incredible tennis and crowned new champions across a variety of singles, doubles and mixed doubles events. The Open events featured an increased total prize pool of over $17,000. “The 2026 NSW Country Championships have once again showcased everything that makes country tennis so special – exceptional competition, outstanding sportsmanship a

Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten lift the 2025 ATP Finals trophy. (Getty/Jon Buckle) The ATP Tour's proposed changes to doubles have sparked one of tennis' biggest debates in years. Much of the discussion has focused on reported plans to reduce draw sizes and prize money from 2028. But throughout the debate, another criticism has repeatedly emerged from players and coaches: the ATP simply does not do enough to promote doubles. To examine those claims, The First Serve has ana

(Getty/Owen Hammond) As the second week of Wimbledon commences, a tournament so sacred and rich in Australian tennis history, the same story has repeated itself — Alex de Minaur flying the Aussie flag solo at a Grand Slam. Entering the All England Club as the fifth seed, de Minaur's run to the quarter-finals is expected of him at this stage of his career, despite the 27-year-old experiencing an uncharacteristic dip in form ever since winning the Rotterdam title in February. B