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Tennis Beyond the Headlines: February 24, 2025 For the Love of Competition Rankings Point-Chasers The Importance of Why Game, Set and Match: Secret Weapons of the World’s Top Tennis Players Checking the Quota Allocation for the NTRP National Championships Downward Dog, Upward Dog, Walk the Dog

First Serve: Levels of the Game

Levels of the Game is a detailed account of the 1968 semi-final match between by Arthur Ashe and Clark Graebner play at Forest Hills. The match is the foreground of for a much deeper cultural and societal examination. The backgrounds and attitudes which shaped each player are interwoven with the match play.

Player Analysis Technology: Policy, Regulation and Smartwatches

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) asserts the authority over whether Player Analysis Technology is legal for use during sanctioned play. Section 31 of the ITF Rules of Tennis published in the USTA Friend at Court essentially boils down to specification of the policy and procedures. The definition of Player Analysis Technology is actually in an appendix to the rules, and was the subject of last week’s post.

Defeating a Broken Tennis Ball Can Pull Tab

Tennis can leave long lasting scars on the psyche. It can also cause physical scars. My hands bear the evidence of that fact from failed attempts to open tennis ball cans through the ages. It is a reflection of my inability to open a can of tennis balls without nicking a finger. Somewhere along the way I learned to use my non-dominant hand when opening the can. Thus, if I sliced a finger, the racquet hand remained unscathed.

Great News About Your Balls?

From the earliest posts about the tennis related impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, I have bemoaned the lack of rigorous scientific evaluation of potential transmission of the SARS-CoV family of diseases via tennis balls. A recently published study has changed that situation. At first glance, the news is fairly promising which apparently prompted the USTA to issue a statement on the topic.

Photo Gallery: My Baby Brother

I am occasionally asked what my baby brother was like as a tennis player. I recently came across a picture that captures the essence of his play. My brother was consistently nationally ranked as a junior player and he also played NCAA Division I college tennis. At the same time, I would characterize his game as a marginally controlled train wreck.

Tennis Artifacts and News from My Childhood Home

Earlier this week USTA Texas Posted a challenge on Facebook “Tell me you’re a tennis player without telling me you are a tennis player.” The resulting comments were active and spirited. Some were better than others. As I continue to wander about in the house I grew up in, I have come to the realization that this house tells the story that a tennis player lives here, even in the absence of racquets and balls.