There is only one way that a sport like tennis can grow. We need young people to continue to watch, participate in and improve our sport: so it’s nice to see on Instagram that there are no shortage of kids and young adults who love our sport! For anyone who isn’t familiar with the ‘Rich kids of Instagram’ it is a verified Insta account that gives an insight into the world of 20 somethings with way too much money (which is often, but not always, from their parents) and their lavish lifestyles. If you want to check it out then please do but please, READ THIS FIRST!  Anyway, it got me thinki ..read more

If there is one guy I hate writing about its Stan Wawrinka!! But probably not for the reasons you are thinking… Actually, as a player and as a personality I really love Stan. In fact, it’s a shame the tennis world doesn’t talk about him as often as we probably should. He is, after all, a 3 time grand slam champion at 3 different slams and holds an impressive 75% success rate when he reaches a major final.   However, the thing is….he is an impossibly annoying subject to write about!! Why? 1)      He’s unpredictable: I like to make predictions, especially bef ..read more

Having talked of injury in my last post, there were also a few players that were hit particularly hard by exactly this and it has left fans in doubt of whether we will see them at the upcoming US Open. It’s one thing for Wimbledon to be annoyed with player withdrawals, but if one player can justifiably be angry with the tournament then it would be Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Grass courts are always injury central as they retain natural moisture which sends players sliding and slipping all over the place: it’s the nature of the beast. The transition from clay to grass can be hard on the body and is ..read more

There was a running theme throughout this year’s Wimbledon and unfortunately it was not a positive one. We have become accustomed to talking about the impact of the weather at Wimbledon over the years and the impact it can have as a third player, but this year the spotlight was on a different issue: injury! Indeed, it was the talk of the first round as the centre court crowd saw two consecutive mid-match retirements when both Klizan and Dolgopolov succumbed to injuries they had carried into the tournament. Under current rules a player may not take a medical time out in circumstances where the ..read more

“Grass is just for cows” that old quote that someone said once and people like me haven’t stopped using in articles since. Who was it again? Certainly wasn’t 8 time Wimbledon winner Roger Federer: that’s for sure! Okay, so I know it was Manuel Santana but one would be forgiven for mistaking the origin on someone like….Rafael Nadal? Now, I’m not saying that Nadal is bad on grass! Partially because I fear the backlash from the millions of Rafans worldwide but mainly because it would be unfair and simply untrue….however….. I think at this stage of his career even Rafa himself would be happy to ..read more

Mid-Season Roundup Yes folks, it really is over for another year! The summer festivities we know as Wimbledon reached completion yesterday and with this the tennis season reached its mid-point…..roughly. That’s the perfect excuse to take stock of the stories the two week fiesta brought us and discuss the answers and questions it gave the tennis world. So, in the next few days to wave off the grass courts I will be summarising what I thinks have been most interesting plots and I might even risk a few predictions along the way… As always, Wimbledon has raised as many questions as answers! Gar ..read more

Here we are again folks: it’s that time of year. Excitement and anticipation is bubbling up within you, simmering under your skin as you try to sleep until it reaches boiling point and you can physically wait no longer. Like a child desperate to unwrap their gifts and hoping to sneak a peak of the man himself. Twas the night before….the Championships Wimbledon?!? Yes, it’s Wimbledon Eve everyone and that means one thing only! It is time for unnecessary pre-tournament analysis and predictions that will most likely not come true!! Yay!!!         &nbs ..read more

How many times, tennis fans, have you heard commentators, journalists and now retired legends of the game squawk enthusiastically about the quality of play we have been spoiled with in the era of the big 4? Tournament after tournament they chant:  ‘The physicality is remarkable!!’  ‘These guys are just superhuman!!!’  ‘Will we ever see such greatness on court again?!!?!?’ ……Sound familiar? But before we accuse the hypothetical record of needing to be changed we should realise the band responsible for releasing it have recently launched a new album. That’s right, the smash hit o ..read more

Just a short round up this evening of the day’s action from day 2 of the Aegon Championships at Queen’s club. If you read my earlier series '5 things we learned from the French Open 2017' then you will know that lesson 5 highlighted the unpredictable nature of the men’s and woman’s games so far this year. Today’s results have only strengthened this belief. All started innocently enough as third seed Milos Raonic took to the centre court to face world number 698 Thanasi Kokkinakis. Although these stats make it sound like a demolition should have ensued the encounter was never going to be ..read more

Almost two years ago exactly I watched a girl play tennis. She was a fairly normal girl in nearly every way except for one: this girl was someone that we would all come to know as Jo Konta, British number 1 and current world number 8. It was 2015 and the Aegon International tournament was being televised for the first time by the BBC. My money was on Caroline Wozniaki to lift the woman’s singles trophy but I was wrong. This prize went to Belinda Bencic who defeated Agnieszka Radwanska in the final to emerge the victor from a very strong field. However, in retrospect, none of this became my mo ..read more