For Tennis Parents by a Tennis Parent

One of my favorite parts of being at the US Open and watching the juniors compete is meeting the parents. Over the past almost-7 years, I have met some incredible people, most of whom I’ve stayed in contact with as their junior player transitions into college or even onto the professional tour. When I’m at these matches, I try to identify the parents and situate myself within earshot because I find it fascinating to watch and listen to their reactions as their child is out there competing.

Over the past couple of days, I’ve had the opportunity to meet some great parents who have been very generous with their time, advice, and honesty. As y’all know, I’ve been recording a bunch of video at this year’s Open, and I wanted to share with you two interviews with some of the parents. The first one is with Quasim and Shari Baptiste, parents of 16-year-old Hailey Baptiste, and Francis Tiafoe Sr., father of 20-year-old Frances Tiafoe. The second one is with Maria and Joe Hewitt, parents of 17-year-old Dalayna Hewitt. I hope you find them helpful! Be sure to subscribe to the ParentingAces YouTube channel (click here) to see all the videos from the Open.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAOBZStXHjQ

I also wanted to share two articles with you. The first is from ZooTennis (click here) and gives you some insight into today’s matches. The second is from the ITA website (click here) and gives you a little more information on the non-American juniors competing this year.

I’ll be on the grounds again today in time for the 11am start of play and will be giving away another copy of the newly-published book, THE COMPLETE PLAYER, by Tim Bainton and Jeremy Carl with a chapter on tennis parenting that I contributed. Check the ParentingAces Twitter feed to find out how to win.

One last thing: there will not be a new podcast episode today but it is coming, I promise! I just haven’t had the time to edit it for you, so please be patient. It will be worth the wait!