Tennis Beyond the Headlines: September 22, 2025
College tennis roars into full gear just as the pros head east for the Asian swing. Digging into a sugary mystery: what led to theRead More
Do Tennis Players Have To Warm Up?
One of the most culturally distinctive differences between tennis and other sports is how opponents are expected to cooperatively warm-up with each other prior toRead More
2 responsesWinners in the Warm-Up
Yesterday, I shared how one of the more entertaining parts of writing this blog is the stories that readers share. This is our second postRead More
2 responsesTanking the Warmup
One of my favorite aspects of writing this blog is that it opens the door for people to share their own tennis stories, which areRead More
1 responseThe Five Books Every Tennis Player Should Own: Performance Edition
The September newsletter from the NWTO included a member poll asking its members to name their favorite tennis book. Since I write about tennis booksRead More
1 responseThe Sportsmanship Policy in the Preface to The Code
A Sportsmanship Policy is printed in the preface of The Code in the current edition of the USTA Friend at Court. Before even getting to the principles themselves, readersRead More
Carlos Alcaraz’s Elevated Training Sequence
This week marks the end of a string of training posts sparked by the Netflix docuseries Carlos Alcaraz: My Way. Today’s topic marks the last training exerciseRead More
Tennis Beyond the Headlines: September 15, 2025
The Alcaraz–Sinner rivalry, Trump’s US Open appearance, record ESPN viewership, and high-fashion courtside trends. Why the Carlos Alcaraz–Jannik Sinner Rivalry Is Good for the Sport:Read More
Winning (Or Possibly Losing) a Match in the Warm-Up
There is an adage in tennis that says you can’t win a match in the warm-up. However, occasionally things happen during that time that canRead More
My Very Bitter Warmup Story
As soon as I found out that the Jelena Ostapenko/Taylor Townsend incident at the US Open included controversy over the warmup, I knew the timeRead More