In the Trenches: The Coach as Communicator - Leading with Empathy and Clarity

Let’s be honest—life in the trenches of professional women’s tennis is a daily fight. Picture this: You’re a 20-something pro, traveling solo, stringing your own rackets, and playing for prize money that barely covers your travel. The journey of a female professional tennis player in the ITF trenches is anything but straightforward. In 2025, the state of women’s tennis offers a mixed bag: encouraging progress, confusing backslides, and unacceptable abuse.

This is life in the trenches—where the good, the bad, and the ugly collide every week.

The Good

Thanks to the pioneering efforts of Billie Jean King and the Original 9, the professional landscape has seen tangible progress. Today, there are significantly more $15K to $75K ITF-level tournaments worldwide than ever before, particularly in regions that were once underserved by competitive opportunities. Young women and girls are entering the sport in record numbers, and for a time, the playing field was beginning to look truly level. Until 2024, all ITF main draw matches—men’s and women’s—were livestreamed with real-time match tracking. The visibility was universal. Sponsors, families, and fans could follow matches around the world. For the first time, representation was real, and there was genuine reason for optimism.

The Bad

Then came 2025, and the momentum stalled. Livestreaming was removed entirely from $15K events. That stung, but at least it was equal-opportunity regression. What really broke the narrative of fairness was the selective coverage at the $30K level. Men’s matches? Still livestreamed. Women’s? Not a single frame. For players grinding it out in remote parks and club courts, visibility is currency. It’s what gets you noticed, gets you sponsored, and gets your family back home to believe in your journey. Cutting women out of the picture—literally—sends a message that their matches aren’t worth watching. And worst of all, young girls watching at home get the wrong message: your matches aren’t worth the bandwidth. That’s not just bad policy. It’s a betrayal.

The Ugly

And then there’s the part no one wants to talk about—but we have to. The cyber abuse. It’s persistent. It’s ugly. And it’s disproportionately aimed at women. Players get told to “just log off,” but that advice doesn’t land when social media presence is baked into their marketability. Sponsors want engagement. Followers bring credibility. Opting out isn’t really an option. The worst abuse often comes from gamblers, especially after they lose a bet. Tennis is the second most bet-on sport in the world, and the low-level ITF matches are right in the crosshairs. When things don’t go their way, the rage floods in: threats, slurs, accusations of tanking. Since CNN’s 2017 profile of Madison Keys and Nicole Gibbs, this problem has been public. And yet, almost nothing has changed.

To bring this a bit closer to home, many of you know that recently I spoke at the RSPA Southern California Conference. I brought both Veronika Miroshnichenko and Sydney Wilson to assist me in my presentation.

Here are a few of the recent DM’s that Veronika has received. Please note that Veronika’s commentary on these messages is on a white background. The comments are relentless. It’s cruel. And for women, it’s often deeply misogynistic.

Here is a screenshot of a couple of messages that Sydney received after a loss in a PTT tournament this year.

Conclusion

The ITF, WTA, and social media platforms have acknowledged the problem, but acknowledgment without action is just noise. We already have the tools to trace the trolls, to enforce equal livestream standards, and to protect players who must become public figures long before they’ve reached financial stability. The real question is: do we have the will? This fight isn’t about chasing perfection—it’s about ensuring protection. It’s about sending a message to the next generation of women grinding through the trenches: you are not alone. Your battles are seen. Your voices matter.

We need to stop excusing injustice as "part of the game" and start dismantling the systemic barriers that hold women back in tennis. Because the future of the sport depends on it. This cannot be the status quo. We owe it to every young girl picking up a racket to fight for a game that is as fair behind the scenes as it is between the lines. Because in the trenches, these women aren’t just playing tennis. They are carrying the weight of change—and the soul of the sport—on their shoulders.

Post note: To any of the men above in those DMs...good luck saying any of that to my face