In the Trenches: Addressing the Elephant in the Room

Tennis is a sport of beauty, strength, grit, resilience, and simplicity. It’s a warrior’s game—players stand alone on the court, battling with everything they have. This intense, one-on-one competition has drawn me to the sport from a young age and continues to inspire me today. However, as we move into a New Year, I feel compelled to address an issue that has persisted for decades: how tennis tournaments are run.

Recently, I attended two very different events—a USTA Level 5 junior tournament and a professional event. In both cases, I was struck by the same glaring problems that impact players, parents, and coaches alike. If tennis is serious about achieving the USTA’s ambitious goal of reaching 35 million players by 2035, improving the tournament experience must be a priority. The current system discourages participation, especially among juniors, who are more likely to quit the sport after playing just one or two tournaments.

The Junior Tournament Experience: A Wild West Environment

Attending a junior tennis tournament often feels like entering the Wild West. Despite the sport’s growth over the decades, tournament organization remains chaotic and outdated. Many areas need attention, but one of the most pressing issues is fair play through better officiating.

In most other youth sports, a referee or umpire is always present to enforce rules and ensure fair competition. Yet in tennis, tournaments frequently have only one USTA official monitoring six to ten courts. This setup virtually guarantees missed calls and disputes. Even with the best intentions, players can make incorrect line calls—sometimes unintentionally, sometimes under competitive pressure.

Would assigning an official to every court solve the problem? In many ways, yes—particularly at the beginner and junior levels. An official could explain basic rules, reinforce etiquette, and promote sportsmanship. While human error would still occur, having more officials would dramatically improve fairness.

Unfortunately, I’ve heard from many coaching colleagues across the U.S. who have lost talented young athletes to other sports because of tennis’s lack of officiating. For young players, a few unfair matches can overshadow the joy of competing and drive them away from the game altogether.

The Pro Level: Higher Stakes, Same Issues

At the professional level, where careers and prize money are on the line, you’d expect flawless officiating. Yet even with chair umpires and sometimes roaming line judges, critical errors still occur—not just with line calls, but even with the score.

Players pour their time, energy, and resources into making it as pros. They need to trust that tournament officials will uphold the highest standards of professionalism. But mistakes happen, and in lower-level pro events like ITF 100K or UTR Pro Tennis Tour (PTT) tournaments, where advanced technology like Hawk-Eye is not used, the margin for error is significant.

As a coach, I constantly discuss how to manage adversity with my players. Handling bad calls is an inevitable part of competition, but at the professional level, where stakes are so high, repeated mistakes are unacceptable. Tournament organizers must do better.

The Technology Solution: The Future Is Now

The good news is that the solution already exists. For years, I’ve heard rumors about better technology “coming,” but there’s no reason it shouldn’t be implemented now.

SwingVision, for example, has been on the market for several years and keeps improving. Coaches can mount a phone on the back fence, and SwingVision tracks the entire matchmaking line calls, keeping score, and compiling match statistics.

As a coach, I love how SwingVision condenses a two-hour match into 35-45 minutes of action, cutting out downtime and highlighting key points. It tracks shot placement, generates match stats, and provides video footage for analysis—a game-changer for player development.

Here’s what this technology could do for the entire tennis ecosystem:

• Players: Receive accurate line calls, correct scores, and automated match reports.

• Parents: Gain peace of mind knowing the competition is fair.

• Coaches: Access real data to guide more efficient training sessions.

The same technology could be applied at lower-level pro events like ITF 100Ks and UTR PTT tournaments. After speaking with umpires and officials, many have expressed frustration with the current system and a desire for better tech tools to help them do their jobs more effectively.

A Call to Action: Modernize the Game

If we want tennis to grow and attract more players, we need to confront the elephant in the room: the lack of fair play and transparency at tournaments. Modernizing tournament management through available technology is no longer optional—it’s essential.

Tennis has always been about personal responsibility and facing challenges alone on the court. But players shouldn’t have to battle outdated systems, too. It’s time to embrace technology, ensure fairness, and create a competitive environment where everyone—players, parents, and coaches—can trust the system and thrive.

Let’s move tennis forward.