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Tennis Beyond the Headlines: June 9, 2025 The Importance of Showing Up in Tennis Friendships Generosity of Time: Building Tennis Friendships Through Purpose The Happiness Project: Friendship Game Set Murder (Now on Audible) and More Stan Powell When Does a Player Turn 18 for USTA League Purposes? Dumbbell (and Kettlebell) Wrist Rotations

Culture Club: Tennis vs Pickleball

On By Teresa Merklin

There are some intractable features of tennis that put the sport at a significant disadvantage to pickleball for attracting and retaining new players. As discussed in yesterdays post, the pickleball learning curve is less daunting and the sport is physically less demanding than tennis. Additionally, the geometry of pickleball supports better socialization and it takes significantly less time to complete a game. It is no wonder why the growth of pickleball participation threatens to completely overtake tennis.

et tu, GiGi?

On By Teresa Merklin

Racquet Sports Industry (RSi) magazine is one of my favorite tennis news sources. It was previously published as Tennis Industry Magazine and the URL still bears that name. As a sign of the times, the most recent issue of RSi is dominated by news about pickleball, the emergent racquet sport that likely prompted the new moniker. One of the articles this month features tennis great GiGi Fernandez… and her testimony about how much she loves pickleball.

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Wimbledon (Movie)

On By Teresa Merklin

Another busy week prompted me to reach once again into the list of tennis movies recently recommended by tennis.com. “Wimbledon” is a romantic comedy featuring a budding relationship between two players at very different points in their career. A chance encounter over a mix up in hotel rooms starts a roller-coaster relationship that plays out across the fortnight.

The Court is Lava: Suspending Play

On By Teresa Merklin

There are provisions interspersed throughout the ITF Rules of Tennis and the USTA Friend at Court for suspending play when demanded by external conditions. In officiated matches, the decision on when to suspend play is at the discretion of the chair umpire or the referee. The rules are somewhat vague in defining the conditions under which a match may be suspended.

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Future Shock: Injury Prediction in Tennis?

On By Teresa Merklin

The body is a complex system. Reflecting on aches and pains experienced before and after my recent foot injury has brought me to a new realization. It is highly likely that physical indicators were visible in my court movement and stroke mechanics for some time prior to my current injury. It is possible that artificial intelligence video analysis systems might soon be able to identify biomechanical breakdowns and warn of potential significant injury. I think this could happen within the next decade.

When Data Gives the Wrong (Tennis) Solution

On By Teresa Merklin

Using data to drive decision making is a well established organizational best practice. Over the past couple of years the rationale for decisions that the USTA has made to increase adult tournament participation has centered around the mantra that we must follow the data. As an engineer, I naturally gravitate to data-based decision making. However, I am not convinced that we are effectively doing that in tennis at the moment.

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Time for a New Look (and Feel)

On By Teresa Merklin

Yesterday I made significant updates to the look and feel of this site. It was the first major structure revision since Fiend At Court was launched on New Year’s Eve in 2019. At that time, I had little experience with WordPress themes and even less of an idea what this blog would eventually turn out to be. Two plus years into this project, I now have a more refined sense of the content and flow. Improvements to the presentation and navigation features on the site were long overdue.

Thank God It’s MRI Day

On By Teresa Merklin

As a senior tennis player, I am always on the lookout for ways to put a little more “pop” in my game. Unfortunately, last weekend I wrong-footed myself trying to recover position from a deep lob and felt a “pop” in my foot and ankle area. It was immediately apparent that I would be retiring from the match. I couldn’t take a step without excruciating pain. I am having an MRI today and will know on Monday the full nature and extent of the injury. (I have a pretty good idea what it is.)

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