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The Topspin Pro Tennis Training Aid

On By Teresa Merklin

The tennis players that are playing in this year’s Australian Open series recently exited a fourteen day mandatory quarantine period required of everyone who enters Australia. While in isolation, some of the players were allowed to leave the quarantine hotel for a few hours each day under controlled conditions to train and receive treatment. However, many of the players were forced into a “hard” quarantine after others on their chartered flights tested positive for the COVID virus on arrival. Those players were not allowed to leave their rooms at all.

Andy Murray’s Wardrobe Malfunction

On By Teresa Merklin

Remember that time when Andy Murray couldn’t keep his balls in his shorts? In 2012, there was an issue with Murray’s clothing that resulted in tennis balls accidentally falling out of his pocket during points. The recurring hindrance calls forced Adidas to make a mid-tournament update to his shorts to address his issues. It is an interesting case study in a hindrance caused by something that is within a player’s control yet still unintentional.

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Six Weeks with Dennis Ralston

On By Teresa Merklin

Fiend At Court spent a virtual six weeks with Dennis Ralston in 2020. To be more precise, this site spent six weeks on a structured improvement program inspired and derived from Six Weeks to a Better Level of Tennis, a book he authored with Barry Tarshis. Unfortunately, Ralston passed away last month following a long battle with cancer. Revisiting the Fiend at Court “Six Weeks” project became compulsory with his passing.

A Terrible Splendor

On By Teresa Merklin

There is a lot to break down in Marshall Jon Fisher’s A Terrible Splendor: Three Extraordinary Men, a World Poised for War, and the Greatest Tennis Match Ever Played. On the surface, the book is about a tennis match between Don Budge and Gottfried Von Cramm played during the 1937 Davis Cup. It is also a unique account of the rise of Adolph Hitler and the Nazi party in the run up to World War 2.

About the Wheelchair

On By Teresa Merklin

Wheelchair players compete under the ITF Rules of Tennis. The modifications for wheelchair tennis are relatively minor. This establishes tennis as one of the premiere sports for adaptive competition. Head to head competition is possible between adaptive and non-adaptive competitors.

The Tom Stow Tennis Stroke Developer

On By Teresa Merklin

Arthur Ashe started training under the tutelage of Dr. Robert Johnson in Lynchburg, Virginia at the age of 10. Before Ashe and all the other players in Dr. Johnson’s program were allowed on the tennis court, they had to first demonstrate mastery of a device known as “The Tom Stow Stroke Developer.” Levels of the Game by John McPhee provides a detailed description.

An Ode to the Back Draw

On By Teresa Merklin

A couple of months ago there was a spirited thread on the National Senior Men’s Tennis Association (NSMTA) discussion board regarding consolation brackets at National Cat/Level 1 tennis tournaments. Some of the viewpoints and experiences expressed in that forum illuminated the feedback that most likely will influence back draw implementation once competitive play results at that level.

The COVID-19 Tangent

On By Teresa Merklin

There are no rules specific to the control of infectious disease in the 2020 ITF Rules of Tennis. The same can be said for the USTA Friend at Court. That is not a surprise because when both of those publications were released last year, COVID-19 was not yet a major concern. As a result, COVID-19 has the distinction of being the first content on this site that was completely unrelated to the ITF Rules of Tennis.