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The Hidden Mathematics of Sport The 2026 USTA’s Friend at Court is Out… and a Foot Fault! The Racquet Bag Leaf Blower: A Small Tennis Tech Upgrade Tennis Beyond the Headlines: March 2, 2026 Beyond the Bell Curve: Why Competitive Tennis Ecosystems Need Edges The Participation Pyramid and the Cost of Lopping Off the Top Winter Is No Longer Coming: The LTA’s County Cup Decision

Learning to Love the Early Icons of Tennis

On By Teresa Merklin

When I first embarked on the project manifested by the Fiend at Court site, I would have asserted that I have little personal interest in the early history of international and professional tennis. The first appearances of early tennis stars in what was published was in the context of newspaper articles summarizing proposed changes to the ITF Rules of Tennis of their time. I am embarrassed to say, that some names that I did not initially recognize are now turning up repeatedly in the tennis books of their era.

Revisiting the Racquet Toss

On By Teresa Merklin

The method of deciding the choice of ends and server was a detail that brought me to a full stop during last year’s march through the ITF Rules of Tennis. I was surprised that a particular method of deciding the choice is codified directly into the rules.

The choice of ends and the choice to be server or receiver in the first game shall be decided by toss before the warm-up starts.

1994 and Coco Gauff

On By Teresa Merklin

1994 was a profoundly important year for Coco Gauff. It is an odd claim to stake for a player that wasn’t born until 2004. The events that unfolded in Women’s professional tennis in 1994 triggered a cavalcade of commissions and panels to study the long term effects on the lives of girls who played on the professional tennis tour while still in their early teens.

Best of Five and the WTA

On By Teresa Merklin

I was sitting at a computer in my local public library when realized that this project had transformed from a casual hobby into borderline obsession. For the first time I was compelled to step up the research beyond materials that I either owned or could access directly on the internet. “Best of Five” set matches for women was the topic that precipitated that transformation.

Tie-Break Games and Bag Tags

On By Teresa Merklin

As I continue my walk down memory lane of this site’s posts in 2020, I am confronted by the Fiend at Court bag tags. These tags were printed with the relevant rules for how to start a new set following the conclusion of a tie-break game. I designed and ordered the bag tags in anticipation that I would use them as a business card for anyone who showed an interest in this site. I would have anticipated that all of the bag tags would be gone by now.

Separate (But Unequal) Balls

On By Teresa Merklin

One of my favorite discoveries from 2020 was the fact that the US Open uses different balls for the men and women’s events. That fact was casually mentioned in this site’s discussion of the manufacture and construction of the tennis ball. In retrospect, that topic is worthy of a post devoted entirely to that fact. Today I am correcting that oversight.

Tennis Net Tension, Pickleball, and Wrenches

On By Teresa Merklin

In the earliest days of this site, I posed the rhetorical question, “How do I not routinely carry a socket wrench in my bag to adjust net tension?” That quote came from “I just can’t handle the tension!” which was published on January 9, 2020 and discussed the rules around the proper tension for the net. At the time, I lamented that I had never seen a USTA umpire check the tension of the net prior to the match.