The First Serve - Your Home of Tennis

Ash Barty aside and prior to that Sam Stosur in the last fifteen years, and then imports Daria Saville (high of 20), and Ajla Tomljanovic (high of 32), when we think of Australian women’s tennis players, there’s been a group of names that we often reference over the last few years that have appeared to be on a top 100 trajectory, but haven't been able to get there.Not to say the door is totally closed on Storm Hunter (155 - high of 119), Astra Sharma (162 - who did get to a high of 84 and had te...

Dasha is six tournaments back into her latest comeback going 7-6 with the highlight being the semi final in Hamburg post Wimbledon, ahead of her her first round US Open match in the early hours of tomorrow morning against 17-year-old American Clervie Ngounoue, who won the Wimbledon girls’ singles title earlier last month, but there’s been a lot of work done behind the scenes to get her body fit again.“It’s crazy how in tennis no matter how much we track our loads when building up after an injury...

After the hard-fought match concluded, Azarenka acknowledged her opponent by waving at Svitolina, before proceeding to shake the umpire’s hand. Some who may be unaware of the circumstances may have thought this was rude by the Belarusian. But it was Ukrainian Svitolina who had previously publicly sated she will not shake hands with Russian or Belarusian players. She had even doubled down on her stance prior to the match.

After the hard-fought match concluded, Azarenka acknowledged her opponent...

Having claimed the Chennai Open in February, after rallying from a set down and saving two tournament points to defeat American Nicolas Moreno De Alboran in three thrilling sets, 5-7 7-6(2) 6-4, the resilient right-handed tennis ace took out the Bengaluru trophy after defeating compatriot James Duckworth in the final. His next target was winning the challenger tournament in Pune and there he did not disappoint either, defeating Italian teenager Luca Nardi 6-2, 6-3 in the final. In doing so, he b...

This could open up one spot for our Aussie ace. And while the other top players in the world are household names full of incredible talent and definitely no easy-beats, if he continues his incredible hard work, De Minaur’s rankings trajectory can climb. It won’t be easy but that’s no reason for the Aussie to not keep striving to crack the top 10. We’re only in March and despite not getting the results in Indian Wells and Miami he would have liked (going out in the 2nd round in his first match co...

Many of us may have applied for jobs during our lifetime only to get told, “You need experience." But there lies the conundrum… How do you get experience when no one is willing to give you that opportunity to gain experience?

And it’s the same conundrum in Tennis.

Players at the top are travelling with their coach, a physio, a strength and conditioning coach, their partner, their agent, a hitting partner and in some cases an array of other extended support staff.

Unfortunately players on the other end of the tennis spectrum...

With just under 50 days till the first tennis ball is bounced and served at the 2023 Australian Open, there is a sense of excitement around. A breath of fresh air, literally, after extensive lockdowns...