When Tennis Becomes a Team Sport

For most sports fans, we think of tennis as an individual sport. Mano e mano. But after the US Open, we see a different side of the game.  The sport at the professional level focuses on team competitions representing your country.

Team competitions like the Davis Cup, the Billie Jean King Cup, and the Laver Cup pit nations and individual players against one another for greater pride and glory.  That changes the way players and fans experience matches. 

These team competitions are now more than just rooting for your favorite player, but your country as well. 

The Billie Jean King Cup Finals take place September 22–27 in Shenzhen, China, with eight nations competing in a knockout format. Each tie includes two singles matches followed by doubles, with the first country to win two matches advancing.

Then there is the Laver Cup, being played September 25–27 in London, where Team Europe faces Team World. Players who normally spend the season trying to beat each other suddenly sit on the same bench, practice together, and pull for one another. The format even builds more pressure as the weekend progresses, with wins becoming worth more points each day. Now players are not just trying to win for themselves but their teammates who are sitting beside you on the court watching every point. A win adds something to the group. A loss affects more than your own tournament.

That same feeling exists far away from the professional tour.

In places like Richmond, the Richmond Tennis Association's Thalhimer Club Challenge and Autumn Cup bring the same team atmosphere to recreational tennis. Most of those players are not playing for prize money or ranking points, just pride and bragging rights.

And anybody who has played league or team tennis understands what that means. You finish your match, and the first question is not "How did I play?" but "How is the team doing?"

Maybe you won your court, but the team is still tied. Maybe your match is the last one on, and everyone is standing outside the fence watching. Suddenly that third-set tiebreak feels a little more pressure-packed than if you were out there by yourself.

The level of tennis may change, but the pressure does not disappear.

Whether it's Davis Cup, Billie Jean King Cup, Laver Cup, or a club competition, team tennis adds another layer to a sport built around individual responsibility.

You still have to hit the serve. You still have to make the return. You still have to figure out how to win the next point. The difference is that when you look toward the sideline, somebody else is depending on you.

For a sport that spends most of the year with players standing alone, team competition reminds us that tennis can also be about something bigger than the person holding the racquet.