The Danish tennis pro Torben Ulrich dies at 95. Intercollegiate Tennis Association responds to last week’s USA TODAY’s cheating article. Tennis governing bodies take steps to try to combat online player abuse.
Torben Ulrich Passes Away: Torben Ulrich, Danish tennis pro, jazz writer and father of Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, has died at the age of 95. Lars shared news of his father’s death in a social media post Wednesday. “Torben Ulrich: 1928-2023, 95 years of adventures, unique experiences, curiosity, pushing boundaries, challenging the status quo, tennis, music, art, writing….and quite a bit of Danish contrarian attitude,” he wrote. Full Story: Rolling Stone Editorial Note: I wrote about Torben Ulrich on previous occasions including “The Tennis World’s Most Interesting Man: Torben Ulrich“ which contained this YouTube video tribute to his life.
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Responds to the December 13th USA TODAY Article: In the fast-paced world of collegiate athletics in which important decisions are made quickly and entire landscapes of sports are rapidly changing, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) finds the December 13th USA TODAY article written about cheating in college tennis to be outdated and overly simplified. Full Story: ITA
Checking in on the Professional Tennis Players Association: The Professional Tennis Players Association was introduced in 2020 on a sweltering August day during the US Open. It was the first significant player empowerment action in 35 years, or since the “parking lot press conference” that led to the formation of the ATP Tour. Full Story: Tennis
Tennis governing bodies aim to combat online abuse of players: The major governing bodies of tennis will protect their athletes from online abuse by monitoring, reporting and helping to identify who is behind threats and other inappropriate contact. The ITF, WTA, AELTC and USTA will use the Threat Matrix service to monitor players’ public-facing social media for abusive and threatening content on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and TikTok. Full Story: Reuters
Tennis Hall of Fame leaders see bright future without ATP tournament: In November, the ATP Tour announced it would be retiring some of the tournaments in its lowest tier: the ATP 250 by 2025 as a part of its “OneVision” strategic plan. This move includes Newport’s Infosys Hall of Fame Open, which has been played annually since 1976, the Lyon Open in France and the Atlanta Open in Georgia.. Full Story: The Newport Daily News
Tennis Stars Headline Exhibition in San Antonio: Venus Williams was joined by Kim Clijsters, Victoria Azarenka, and the Bryan twins for an exhibition weekend benefitting several local youth outreach programs in the city. Full Story: Tennis
USTA National Campus to Host U.S. vs. Belgium BJK Cup Event April 12-13: The USTA announced that the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla., will host the U.S. vs. Belgium Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge Qualifying competition April 12-13, 2024, a best-of-five match series with the top pro women’s players from the U.S. and Belgium competing to advance to the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup Finals. Full Story: Racquet Sports Industry Magazine
Go to bed early or stay awake? How some tennis players battle jet lag: In a job that crisscrosses time zones and continents from week to week, jet lag is an occupational hazard on the Hologic WTA Tour. The 2024 season kicks off in less than two weeks, which means hundreds of tennis players and their support teams will soon be boarding long-haul flights to their various starting destinations in Australia and New Zealand. Full Story: WTA
An Obscure Tennis Tie In “Napoleon” The Movie: After the battle of Waterloo in 1815, which signified the final end of Napoleon’s reign, he was exiled for a second and final time to a remote island in the South Atlantic called St. Helena. While at St. Helena, he lived in a property that was called Longwood House. This name is familiar to tennis aficianados as the famed tennis club in Boston, Massachusetts took this name after Napoleon’s final residence when it was founded in 1877. Full Story: World Tennis Magazine
Pro Pickleball’s Woes Won’t Dent the Sport: Like ping pong, the pastime may not make the leap from popularity to profitability, but it will still be a thorn for tennis players. Full Story: Bloomberg
The thwacking sound of a tennis racket on a ball can reduce anxiety with its deep bass, subtle crispness and variable pitch: (Take, that, pickleball!) Full Story: The Daily Mail
This Week in Professional Tennis
| Date | Tournament | Tour/Level | Location |
| 12/29-1/7 | United Cup | Joint Exhibition | Australia |
