Tennis and All That

The UTR (Universal Tennis Ranking) Pro Match Series is underway. It's the first live pro tennis tournament, which is also being broadcast internationally, since the pandemic stopped play. It is taking place on a private court in West Palm Beach. No spectators will be present and strict health and safety procedures are in place! This shows that it is possible to play tennis without spectators so the Grand Slams could have gone ahead! Besides, lower ranked players have to cope without the buzz of a crowd so it is equally hard for them as it is for top players to play in silence. But if they have to do it why shouldn't the top players! The UTR system has gained support from professional players within the top 60. The advantage of the UTR Pro Match Play helps every player, unlike the International Tennis Federation which seriously disadvantages newbies and returners who not only pay a tournament fee for the privilege of playing an ITF tournament but they receive no money for...

#BeKind is currently trending more than ever but it still seems to have not reached the sports world or sports press and media, or at least certainly not in a consistent and sustained way. For instance, take three current topics in tennis today: One, Nadal had an awesome year last year which continued until late into the year, beyond the ATP tournament calendar. Not only did he pick up two Grand Slams by playing out-of-this-world tennis, but he also superseded Margaret Court’s record for the most amount of singles titles at one Slam by winning his 12 th French Open title. Nadal also surpassed Federer’s records by winning the greatest number of ATP Masters 1000 singles titles (35 to date) and by winning the most Masters 1000 matches among active ATP players, which he did on route to taking the Rogers Cup in Canada, his first title defence on a non-clay surface. In addition, Nadal helped lead his groups to two team tournament victories, first with Team Europe in the Laver Cup in ...