Real Tennis News donation drive

Support Real Tennis News to continue into the 2025/26 season

In October 2024, I was browsing the archive of the New York Times to read about the history of the US Open and the travails of Jay Gould, Walter Kinsella and Jock Soutar. I was amazed at the amount of column inches dedicated to what, even in the early 20th century, was a niche sport, with the articles written without reference to centuries-old European monarchs nor an attitude that the rules of the game were impossibly complicated. Compared to the modern landscape, no major newspaper today has the resource nor inclination to provide their readers with day-by-day, blow-by-blow updates of the developments of real tennis.

Hence the idea of starting Real Tennis News as a place where dedicated fans of the sport can go for the latest match results, and where casual players can learn more about the best players in the sport, hopefully before one day seeing them live at one of the Opens or other major tournaments. Since then, Real Tennis News has covered 3 Opens, 3 World Championship Eliminators, the Ladies World Championships, numerous minor tournaments, and has broken news about the global handicap realignment and the changes to the women’s British Open.

However, providing a comprehensive coverage of the sport does take time, resources and generosity. In addition, I also run the CourtMarker marking app, which is in use at a growing number of clubs designed for its ease to incorporate into live streaming. However, I have no intention of placing any of this content behind a paywall — our game is too small to justify excluding content from those unwilling or unable to pay. But in order for this site to be a continued success into next season and beyond, I do need for it to be secure and viable.

As such, I have enabled paid subscriptions on Substack as a way for those who are feeling generous to donate to my costs. If you have enjoyed reading Real Tennis News, or if you find it to be a valuable part of your real tennis diet, please consider signing up to an annual or monthly subscription. Additionally, if your club does use CourtMarker, please also consider a subscription here — that will allow me to continue developing that app and make it more useful to its users. I have plenty in the planning for the upcoming season of real tennis, but it will take the support of the real tennis community to make it happen.

Whether you do or don’t make a donation, I thank you for your readership over the past year and look forward to seeing you at a real tennis club somewhere over the next season.

Photo credit: Tim Edwards