February 12, 2014

On January 25th at the age of 76, my father, John Straub, died. My father’s first job in tennis was at the Slazenger-Dunlop Factory in Toronto. Wooden tennis frames would come from England completely unfinished and he would be in charge of completely finishing the racquets from: balancing; weighting; putting on grips; painting; putting on stickers and stringing. As a child I used to like going in on Saturdays occasionally with him; we would have the whole factory to ourselves and I would help put on stickers. He custom made my first racquet, wooden of course, when I was three years old.

The rise of talented tennis players from all over Europe has been on display for some time now on the WTA Tour and the ATP tour. But never has it been more apparent than at the 2014 Australian Open. With the first major of the season now in the books it is very apparent that the ‘old’ days of the USA and Australia dominating the Grand Slams are long gone. Tennis is being dominated by the Europeans and the numbers are staggering.

Exclusive tips from Roger Federer’s mother Lynette on ‘How to be a tennis parent’. It’s important that the child enjoys the game and isn’t forced into it. “I believe a child chooses tennis because he or she is attracted and fascinated by the sport, and that could be through the parents, friends or family.”