In This Guide
Tennis
Once a simple medieval pastime called jeu de paume, involving a ball and the palm of one's hand, tennis has evolved into one of the most physically challenging sports, not to mention an immensely popular event for spectators around the world. Whether you are a parent looking to help your child start playing, a sofa spectator looking to learn more about your favorite professional players, or a college student looking to test your game in some stiffer competition, the Web provides a multitude of sites catering to every breed of tennis enthusiast.
Expand All Guide SectionsLearn About Tennis
Below we'll introduce a few sites that will get the beginner familiarized with the basics of ... read more »
Professional Tennis
The world of professional tennis is more than just popular spectator events around the world; it's ... read more »
Attend a Professional Tennis Tournament
The WTA and ATP tours participate in dozens of tournaments a year, many of which serve as ... read more »
Improve Your Tennis Game
Whether you're looking for lessons, injury advice, or simply want to take advantage of the ... read more »
Buy Tennis Equipment
There are plenty of tennis-specific online retailers carrying thousands of products, frequent price ... read more »
Connect with Other Tennis Enthusiasts
In this section are sites and suggestions that can help you connect with players and fans, whether to bet on a fantasy bracket, find a partner or coach, get advice, or just chat about your favorite pro players.
Dulcinea's Insight
- As we've already mentioned, the USTA's site is a must-bookmark find, even if you're not actually a member of the organization. To use its program and partner finder you need only join their Web site, which is free.
- Browse around other tennis sites you like, even bigger publications like ESPN.com, and you will often find a "Forums" section specifically catered to tennis and other sports that may interest you.
- Be sure to check out social bookmarking sites like Delicious and search terms like "tennis forums" to see what your Web-surfing peers have discovered in the same vein. This can often pull up more interesting sites than a normal search engine would.
- As always with online forums, there are occasionally users who use offensive language, and advice from other forum users should always be checked against professionals, especially in the case of medical concerns.
Dulcinea's Picks
To find a tennis partner in your area ...
USTA
gives you free access to potential partners and the ability to create your own player profile. Once registered, click on "Help Me Find A Partner" on the left-hand side of the USTA homepage and enter your zip code. On the following page, rate yourself as a tennis player and describe what type of player you are, for example "Weekend Warrior" or "Casual/Social" (you can pick more than one). The results list players near you and provide contact information.
For online forums and tennis message boards ...
TennisW Forums
is a free service that allows you to browse and leave posts for fellow tennis fans and players. The emphasis in this forum is on player improvement, but alongside sections on finding partners and improving your game is a good amount of information on the sport from a fan's perspective.
Pro Tennis Forums
, an easy-to-navigate online discussion of men's professional tennis, is an offshoot of a tennis fan's Web site that shows ATP rankings and results. The forums are perfect for the avid fan of professional tennis, but unfortunately the women's coverage is minimal. Discuss topics such as whether Federer is "too good for the sport" and which players to watch this year.
The Tennis Channel Forums
allow you to create brackets for major tournaments with other fans, get information about Tennis Channel broadcasts, chat with fans about the ATP and WTA tours, or talk about tennis vacationing in the "Tennis Travel" section of this TV channel's online forum.
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