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A Tennis Life: Stories from a Lifetime of Growing the Game The Code, Principle 18: When Can You Call a Let for a Stray Ball? Inflatable Penguins: My New Favorite Tennis Training Targets Tennis Beyond the Headlines: October 19, 2026 Craig Tiley, the USTA, and the Future of Senior Tennis An Offer Refused: Tennis Australia’s Senior Tennis Proposal Craig Tiley and Senior Tennis: Lessons from Australia

Waking Up in a Tennis Wasteland

I first wrote about the decline of the tennis culture in my hometown in “Life on the Border: Tennis Wastelands.” Wichita Falls used to be a hotbed for tennis, but that simply isn’t the case anymore. While the umpire who gave birth to me continues to recover from the injury she sustained shortly before Thanksgiving, I have been spending a lot of time in my childhood home. For someone who spent 35 years away, the decline in participation is jarring.