One year after the restart, how tennis had to evolve, and how it continues to adapt – The Volley Podcast #11

Tennis Majors reporter Chris Oddo, who covered the Tokyo Olympics tennis event and has since been hard at work with Masters tournaments in Canada and Cincinnati, got together with noted British tennis journalist Simon Cambers to do a debrief on various current hot topics in tennis world in the latest episode of The Volley podcast.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS OF THE VOLLEY PODCAST #11: THE CHANGING TENNIS WORLD

• Governing bodies have been able to keep tennis afloat despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic (3:00 into the podcast)
• It’s a “minor miracle” that most small tournaments have survived in the wake of serious financial difficulties (7:00)
• How much will Covid-19 hurt tennis when it’s all said and done? Only time will tell…. (7:45)
• Increased presence of DraftKings, FanDuel, and betting in general has been a way to generate funds (9:30)
• Prize-money issues have not gone away; they are only getting more serious because of Covid-19 (11:30)
• PTPA is starting to become more organised while trying to delay the vote on the ATP’s 30-year plan (14:00)
• Momentum for an ATP-WTA merger seems to have slowed over the past year (17:30)
• The approaching end of an era — including Roger Federer’s injury — will be a blow to the ATP (20:30)
• Current unusual conditions presented by Covid-19 make retirement decisions difficult (22:15)
• How much does Andy Murray have left in the tank? Could he eventually focus on doubles? (23:00)
• Mental health: The good news is that people are starting to talk about it (24:00)
• Bubble life during the pandemic has made mental-health struggles even more real for players (26:00)
• One constant has been Novak Djokovic and Ashleigh Barty remaining atop the rankings (28:15)
• Players have dealt with Covid-19 well and have produced plenty of high-quality matches (29:00)
• Would it be feasible to create multiple, localised tours to reduce air travel? (30:45)
• Tennis needs to do a better job of capitalising on its immense fandom and popularity (34:00)