(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/Ben Whitely) Top 20 players from the men's and women's tours, including Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Aryna Sabalenka, and Coco Gauff, have penned a joint letter expressing their dissatisfaction with the upcoming French Open's tournament prize money. In March last year, the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) filed a 163-page lawsuit against the top tennis governing bodies, accusing the ATP and WTA of acting as a "cartel" that tries to gain "monopolistic co

(Catalonia Open) Daria Kasatkina has claimed her first title since becoming an Aussie after winning a WTA 125 category event as the seventh seed. The former world No.8, who will rise to 66th in the world when the new rankings are officially released at the start of this week, saved two match points in her opening round match against Emiliana Arango, before fighting back from a set down in the final to defeat Germany's Tamara Korpatsch 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, in a match that saw a comb

(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

(Getty/Oscar J. Barroso) A whirlwind past fortnight has made the tennis world stand up and take notice of Anastasia Potapova after she reached her first-ever WTA 1000 semi-final. The 25-year-old lost in the second round of qualifying in Madrid, but was awarded a spot in the main draw as a 'Lucky Loser', where she has grabbed the opportunity with both hands by becoming the first Lucky Loser to make the last four of a WTA 1000 tournament. Having already defeated two Grand Slam

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

(Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images) It would be fair to say that it has been lean pickings for Australian tennis players in the week leading up to the main draw of the French Open. With the second major of the year fast approaching, qualifying lists for Roland Garros have been released, with the cut-off determined by the latest weekly rankings released on Monday. From an Aussie perspective, on the men's side, Tristan Schoolkate, Adam Walton, Dane Sweeny, Chris O'Connell, Al

(Getty Images - Aaron Foster) It was first reported by the Sydney Morning Herald on November 1 last year, "Code Violation? Tennis Australia under fire from ousted officials" by Chris Barrett. A detailed account of the termination of four elected directors of Tennis Officials Australia, who also worked as tennis officials for Tennis Australia, following confidential communications to members raising concerns about officiating conditions and governance matters. The affected di

(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

Former Arkansas tennis coach, Robert Cox. (Caleb Grieger/NWA Democrat-Gazette) The University of Arkansas' controversial call to scrap tennis at the end of the 2026 spring season has caused widespread uproar. On Saturday, the shocking news was made public. "After considerable reflection and thoughtful discussion, we have made the very difficult decision to discontinue our men's and women's tennis programs," Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Hunter Yurachek said. "We

(Getty/AI Bello) Former world No.26 Camila Giorgi has confirmed to fans that she is ready to come out of retirement in 2027, two years after her sudden absence from the tour. In May 2024, the then 32-year-old walked away from the sport without saying a word, reportedly due to being chased by a taxman in Florence for unpaid taxes. She also wanted to pursue a career in lingerie modelling, which she did in the United States. However, she has always denied those rumours of tax ev

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

Patrick McEnroe. (Getty/Roy Rochlin) Former Grand Slam doubles champion Patrick McEnroe has exposed the lack of American youth in the national college tennis system. Patrick, the brother of seven-time major singles winner John, was watching an SEC men's tennis championship match when he noticed a worrying sign. "Just re checked the numbers—ACC + SEC men's team finals: 24 singles players… 3 Americans…HELLO??!!" McEnroe posted on X. "That's a system that's lost its balance. Co

Aryna Sabalenka after winning the Miami Open. (Getty/Carmen Mandato) The first three months on the tennis calendar hit at a frenetic pace with a plethora of tournaments spanning across most continents. Across those events, players have announced themselves for the first time or once more, while some have regressed in ways that very few saw coming. Here are some of those winners and losers from the first three months of the year. WINNERS: It is very easy to talk about

There are racquets that perform. There are racquets that feel good. Finding one that does both — without having to choose — has always been the compromise players have had to quietly accept. Today, HEAD has engineered a solution that changes that entirely. SQUARED is built differently — literally. Two tubes, one frame: one engineered for power, the other designed for comfort. The outer tube — built from Toray's Torayca™ T800S carbon fiber — handles the heavy lifting, generati

Casper Ruud holding his first Masters 1000 trophy in Madrid. (Getty/Jose Breton) For Casper Ruud, returning to the Madrid Open this week should feel like a celebration of a career breakthrough. Instead, it shapes as something far more consequential. Twelve months ago, Ruud claimed the biggest title of his career in Madrid, defeating Jack Draper in a hard-fought final. It was the big final win he had been chasing for years. He had lost three Grand Slam finals, an ATP Finals de

Mirra Andreeva learning from her coach, Conchita Martínez. (Getty/Tim Clayton) Can former players be decisive for current players when it comes to long-term success, and how does the dynamic in current partnerships work between coaches and former players turned coaches in relation to their players? The landscape of tennis coaching in professional tennis across both the WTA and ATP tours has evolved drastically over the decades. One facet of said coaching has always been the

(Getty) Former Wimbledon champion Markéta Vondroušová has been charged by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) for failing to attend a doping test after an "acute stress reaction". According to the ITIA conditions, a player is deemed to be non-compliant if they "evade simple collection or refuse or fail to submit to sample collection without compelling justification after notification by a duly authorised person." Listen to The First Serve Live every Monday at 8pm

French Open tournament director, Amélie Mauresmo. (Getty/Mustafa Yalcin) The French Open will be the first Grand Slam to ban cameras in the players' area to protect privacy amid criticism at this year's Australian Open. After Coco Gauff's quarter-final defeat to Elina Svitolina at Melbourne Park, the American let out her frustration by smashing her racquet in the Rod Laver Arena tunnel, not knowing that she was being filmed. Listen to The First Serve Live every Monday at 8pm