THE CHALLENGER ROUTE?

On By ethomasparhamIn Z. MiscellaneousLeave a comment

‘Challenger level is about survival’: brutal reality of life below elite tennis

Clips from THE GUARDIAN by Ervin Ang

“The cities, conditions are not the best, different from when you play the best tournaments. The Challengers are tough. Sometimes I get very upset because you go a long way to win 30 matches and you’re still outside the top 100. It’s way too much.”

The life of a player can be far from fancy. Casual fans may look toward Carlos Alcaraz’s lucrative sponsorship deals with envy, but those on the fringes of the top 100 and beyond live a starkly contrasting reality. The less glamorous side of the sport involves endless travelling, cost cutting to make ends meet and battling bouts of loneliness.

Kevin Clancy, a sports psychologist who worked with Ireland’s top players, believes tennis and golf are the most psychologically demanding sports. He says: “It’s roughly about 20% of the time that you’re on court and hitting the ball, so there’s 80% of the time where you’re doing a lot of thinking.

“Tennis is a sport that mentally could beat you up really, really badly. For players at Challenger level, it’s about survival. They need to play more tournaments and have that constant pressure of, ‘I need to perform and get points’.

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“These players are playing in front of a man and his dog in the middle of nowhere. It’s really tough from a psychological perspective.”

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 “It’s not just forehands and backhands, it’s how much can you suffer? How much can you travel? How much can you sleep in different beds every week? We take almost as many flights as pilots. It’s a lonely sport.

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For all their sacrifices, a juicy financial return is far from guaranteed. In 2024, Nikoloz Basilashvili returned from an elbow injury and earned $63,183 in prize money. But after subtracting flight costs and paying his coaches, the Georgian said he made a net loss of about $120,000.

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“You are mostly alone and you don’t really have a lot of friends to talk to. I don’t know if there is any other sport like this, to take a flight on the same day you play a match and then next week you are in another city. 

Whoa, Nelly

“WHOA, NELLY!”

THE HOOK, THE STINGER, AND THE DTL

On By ethomasparhamIn C. COLLEGE TENNIS and INSTRUCTION, Z. Miscellaneous1 Comment

One of nine people are left-handed. Baseball pitchers and tennis players seem to have an advantage, if left-handed. In tennis the “hook ” serve from a southpaw spins wide to the backhand return of right handers. Lefty Nadal added ” the stinger ” as a second tool to pressure the same effect. ( see link to THE CIRCLE STINGER–https://littlegreenbookoftennis.com/2020/02/28/tennis-tactics-the-circle-stinger-65/

The return to counter the hook and the stinger was the “down the line return “. AI (ChatGPT)

( The next link–https://chatgpt.com/c/6894c0a6-cc94-8327-a93f-c63a68bc3c6b) compares records of FEDERER, NADAL, AND DJOKOVIC ! Pretty close !!!

The Joker seemed better than Rodger at the DTL return.

Last night Ben Shelton and Karen Khachanov upset Fritz and Zerev. Tonite the classic battle looms : Ben has the lefty hook. Khachanov has a great two handed backhand.

Let the games begin!

https://chatgpt.com/c/6894c0a6-cc94-8327-a93f-c63a68bc3c6b

THE HIDDEN TRUTH

On By ethomasparhamIn C. COLLEGE TENNIS and INSTRUCTION, Z. MiscellaneousLeave a comment

The Hidden Truth

AI makes data accessible.   Please acknowledge 1.  What is the % of International players playing in the starting singles and doubles positions on the top fifty ranked men and women’s tennis  American college tennis players :  NCAA 1 and 11, NAIA, and JUCOS.  2.  Assuming the starters get the lion’s share of scholarships, what is true % of tennis scholarships awarded to Americans?

THE REST OF THE STORY 2

On By ethomasparhamIn C. COLLEGE TENNIS and INSTRUCTION1 Comment

College tennis faces an uphill battle

Like most Olympic sports in the post-House world, tennis has a murky future

Pete Janny
July 21, 2025

Kent also cited the foreign influence on college tennis, and he believes the financial stressors in 2025, like revenue sharing, may lead to an even larger proportion of international players on rosters. According to an NCAA report released in 2022, 61 percent of men’s tennis players and 66 percent of the women are from outside the United States, marking a large increase from the 38 percent and 50 percent, respectively, reported in 2006-07. The 2025 national championship-winning Wake Forest men and Georgia women both follow this trend; 63 percent of the Wake Forest men are internationals, along with 58 percent of the Georgia women. 

August 5th, 1999 From TENNIS WORLD by Beth German:

“The NCAA is also to be blamed for not keeping tennis specific numbers. It is impossible to find out how many international players take roster spots, scholarships or Graduate from college.”

*****( COMMENT ON THESE “EXCERPTS”) 

I support the Pete Janny article, adding this:  He, as others in the past ( the USTA, ITA , etc),  have cited the % of internationals on American college tennis rosters including all members of all rosters.  Above it is 61% for men, 66% for women.  

While acknowledging a significant increase, it doesn’t give a complete picture of the real situation.  

Technology makes research easier.  Embedded below is a “jackleg “ effort I made —studying the top college teams in 2025.   Bottom line:  All divisions (NCAA 1, 11, NAIA, JUCOS, men and women averaged about 90% of starters.  And most probably “scholarshipped “ players.  Only NCAA 111 (non- scholarship ) and NCAA 1 women were less than 90%.

Wake Forest featured 11 of 12 international singles and doubles participants .  Georgia’s Women 10 of 12.  

Admitting readily my amateur study is questionable, most of my coaching “veterans” concluded,  “…that’s about right. “

For 50 plus years any allotment or quota that saved scholarships was dismissed by a lawsuit feared;  a threat based on “ discrimination based on national origin. “  Ironically the current administration is taking a strikingly similar position on EDUCATION.  Is higher education awarding too many of the best slots to brighter international students ?

How would the current judiciary rule on that? Just saying!

For the MISSING CHART click on the link below or MILESTONES https://littlegreenbookoftennis.com/2025/02/25/milestones/

Scroll to THE REST OF THE STORY,  then on down to THE MISSING CHART. 

POWERED BY DELUSION

On By ethomasparhamIn C. COLLEGE TENNIS and INSTRUCTION, E. SPORTS COMMENTARY, HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS / SHOT DOCTORSLeave a comment

 It’s a system built on dreams, but powered by delusion.

 (Copied from NATIONAL MEN’S TENNIS ASSOCIATION  ( President’s letter, July 2025)


A follow-up idea stemming from yesterday’s post about the economic inequities between junior and senior tennis is a related micro-topic. It centers around the illusion of return on investment. The junior tennis ecosystem is largely fueled by a powerful fantasy. Parents (and sometimes even the players themselves) believe that with enough money, sacrifice, and hard work, tennis greatness and a lucrative professional career are within reach. Failing that, at least there is the potential of a college scholarship.

Junior tournaments are populated by families burning vacation days to stand on blistering hot sidelines, pouring resources into private lessons, national travel, custom stringing, fitness trainers, and sometimes even homeschool tutors. It adds up—quickly. And while few say it out loud, the intentions are clear. The hope of a future payoff. Framed that way, junior tennis isn’t an indulgence, but rather an investment.

The emergence of NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) deals has clouded the dynamic for college tennis. In marquee sports like football and basketball, NIL opportunities have turned collegiate athletics into quasi-professional ventures. However, for “minor” sports like tennis, it is starting to show the opposite effect. Athletic departments and third parties are directing resources toward programs that generate visibility and revenue. Meanwhile, tennis slips further into the background. The money is flowing, just not toward tennis. All that to say, players who earn college scholarships for tennis receive far less in financial remuneration than what was poured into their junior development.

If you watch “King Richard” or read Ben Rothenberg’s “Naomi Osaka: Her Journey to Finding Her Power and Her Voice,” you can see the same haunting story of staggering costs and financial strain that comes with chasing tennis greatness. In both stories, the results are extraordinary. However, the outcomes were more likely to be ruinous for all but the most statistically improbable outliers. For every Serena or Naomi, there are thousands of families who went all in, only to come up empty-handed. It’s a system built on dreams, but powered by delusion.

And yet… that delusion is part of what keeps the junior tennis engine running.

OLD FARTS GAME PLAN

On By ethomasparhamIn K. PHILOSOPHYLeave a comment

OLD FARTS GAME PLAN ( from KERRY BURNIGHT )

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Tom Parham <ethomasparham@gmail.com>		10:40 AM (6 minutes ago)

to me

I scoured the findings of 35 years of empirical testing on psychological wellbeing in longevity. The deeper I dug into the findings, the more I recognized a profound underlying pattern. The hundreds of predictors found in thousands of studies on what is necessary to thrive in longevity consistently group into four essential elements.

Grow: They continue to expand and explore.

Connect: They put time into new and existing relationships.

Adapt: They adjust to changing and challenging situations.

Give: They share themselves.