Full-time tennis writers?

Do any papers have these jobs anymore? Or at least a gig where someone covers all the biggies (Grand Slams, Masters series, etc.)? I realize tennis has hit the back-burner and all...

 

Not many do, but I'd give my right arm to be one. Well, I'd need that to type. You get the idea.

 

Bud at the Globe?

 

And I think we've covered the two full-time tennis writers in America in four messages, although the Desert Sun in the Coachella Valley has a tennis writer who also covers preps. This person does a weekly notebook and covers the events that come to the Indian Wells Tennis Center.

Most papers fold that into a GA or other beat position. For example, I was a finalist in Contra Costa six years ago for a golf/tennis/national NFL job. Tennis was definitely the red-headed stepchild in that combo.

Other papers have one of their best prep writers cover the events when they come to town. Unlike 30 years ago, most papers don't have someone cover what has become a niche sport.

 

Charles Bricker, So. Fla Sun-Sentinel does at least three of the majors. But it is a dying beat. It doesn't help that Americans haven't been doing very well in the majors lately and there doesn't seem to be a rising star to get people excited about the sport.

Plus, it's the easiest sport to downsize for a paper looking to reduce its budget. Golf plays only one of its majors overseas and the coverage commitment is for a week. Tennis plays three of its majors overseas. Three of the majors are in very expensive cities (London, Paris, NYC) and the other one is in Australia and hard to get stories to beat deadlines.

 

The Miami Herald still has a fulltime tennis writer (which would be me!). We always staff Wimbledon and the US Open, and usually the French Open, too. The only one we don't staff is the Australian Open. I also do a weekly tennis column that runs from January through October. Others who qualify as newspaper tennis "beat'' writers are Lisa Dillman (LA Times), Charlie Bricker (Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel), Charles Elmore (Palm Beach Post), Liz Clarke (Washington Post), Jerry Magee (San Diego), and Dale Robertson (Houston Chronicle). It's a really fun beat, but a dying one.
Off to the Big Apple for Andre's farewell...
Michelle Kaufman

 

There is some web site stuff. I have a friend who writes for the WTA site, which is a similar structure to writing for NFL.com. Not as high-profile as NFL.com, but the same type of writing. Not PR, just reporting for a tennis audience. Travels quite a bit, lives in Florida, writes about tennis. It's a good gig.

 

Tennis is a much more draining sport in terms of the travel as there is a tournament nearly every week during the year, plus Davis Cup, World TeamTennis and with so much tennis, it'd be crazy to have a beat writer for the sport (with a few exceptions, of course).

My question to you all: Is it tougher to cover tennis for 11 months out of the year than baseball with its spring training, 162 games and playoffs?

 

and golf didn't come to mind?

 

You're right. Golf is just as long a season and is just as demanding for the writers.

 

yeah, but you get to hang with tiger after hours. he's all ready shown he can pick up the hot chick come closing time.