Full-time tennis writers?

[hungryhungryhippo]

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...

 

[MileHigh]

Lisa Dillman at the L.A. Times, though she didn't go to Wimbledon this year (Diane Pucin was there). And with the cutbacks going on there, I suspect she won't be going to the Australian Open like she has for the past many years.

 

[Ledbetter]

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

 

[joe]

Bud at the Globe?

 

[Birdscribe]

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.

 

[standman]

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.

 

[mkaufman]

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

 

[toomanycookies]

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.

 

[Claws for Concern]

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?

 

[Tom Petty]

and golf didn't come to mind?

 

[Claws for Concern]

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.

 

[Tom Petty]

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.

 

[Screwball]

CFC:

Baseball is tougher, and it's not even close. First off, no paper travels to every tennis tournament. If the tournament is not a major or close to home, the paper almost certainly will skip it. If you're the tennis writer and you're not covering the tournament that week, you're writing a notebook once a week--if there's space, that is.

 

[Tom Petty]

well ****, i can see how that weekly notebook can really bog a person down.

keep your chin up man. maybe you can skip the notebook ... next week.

 

[Claws for Concern]

Baseball beat is much tougher, I agree. I know plenty of writers who have done that and it sure doesn't have the same allure as maybe it once did.

Does anyone at least think that AP golf writer Doug Ferguson (and yes, I know that he has his enemies on this board) has a difficult gig? I'm not sure who AP's full-time tennis writer is, but I know they don't travel nearly as much as DF does for golf.

 

[Gold]

I think tennis is a longer season than golf, because at least the golf tours kind of shutdown for November and December and maybe even part of October.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

Baseball's the beat that would drive me out of the biz. But don;t underestimate how tough the NBA beat is. The travelling schedule seems to be set up by dartboard -- Milwaukee, Phoenix, Houston, Portland anyone? -- and all the travel takes place in the middle of winter, guaranteeing that everybody has the lfu by March 1.

 

[auggie_ben_doggie]

I'd just like to take this moment to point out that along with being the worst hockey beat writer in the history of sports journalism, Rachel Nichols was also a terrible tennis writer. But a wonderful addition to ESPN's stable of telegenic reporters.

 

[Birdscribe]

Baseball beat is much tougher, I agree. I know plenty of writers who have done that and it sure doesn't have the same allure as maybe it once did.

Does anyone at least think that AP golf writer Doug Ferguson (and yes, I know that he has his enemies on this board) has a difficult gig? I'm not sure who AP's full-time tennis writer is, but I know they don't travel nearly as much as DF does for golf.

I had dinner with Doug's predecessor, Ron Sirak, one night in Orlando. Ron had the AP golf beat for 2 1/2 years and he termed it "an absolute meat grinder." He marveled at how long Doug has been able to do it effectively.

Two stories a week (notebook, column), sometimes three (equipment). Traveling to all four majors and writing your ass off before, during and after each one. Venturing to the WGC events, some of the LPGA majors and other events (Wie's pro debut at Samsung last year, for example). Making sure you're up to date on Tiger's happenings (ducking the tomatoes I know are coming)... it's a grind, albeit one of the better grinds in the biz.

That, in turn, puts into perspective Sirak's predecessor, Bob Green. He had the beat for more than 35 years.

BTW, speaking of Sirak, he's one of those rare writers who has never written a bad story.

 

[Gold]

I probably should correct something I posted earlier. While the "regular tour" golf season might not be as long as tennis, the late fall events and made for TV golf events probably would make it a harder job for somebody like Ferguson compared to someone who did similar work in pro tennis.