How Many of you are Playing Abroad???

How many of you have moved to a different country and are still actively involved in Tennis.....where ever that may be?

Where did you move to and from where?


What are some differences you notice.....ie Skill level, Courts, Competition, Tourneys, player mannerisms????

My wife and I moved from Memphis to Las Vegas to Manila, Philippines.

There is a tennis scene here, but its mostly high society social tennis. She has made many friends at the Manila Polo Club and plays there socially 2-3 times a week.

There are some very good recreational players here, but no organized competition outside of some small charity type tournaments.

We are told there's a big city-wide tournament (like USTA) once a year where all the clubs get together for a competition.

It's pretty nice though. The best thing about tennis here is you can get a court and ballboy(s) for around 500 Pesos ($12.50) for an hour and a half.

I grew up in OK and got back into tennis when I moved to DC. I moved to a town about 20 miles outside of London 7 1/2 years ago.

The first thing I noticed was that there are few public courts in this area, so you pretty much have to join a club. A lot of clubs around here have "all-weather" courts, which means a carpet/astro surface with sand on top, because for some reason they want a court you can play on in the rain (rather than building indoor courts). These courts suck. I always look forward to matches at clubs with hard courts.

The leagues are quite different as well. The team moves up or down based on team results, rather than individuals moving up or down. So, you can end up with teams that have vastly different players. Also, the leagues in this county are based on each team having two doubles pairs and each pair playing a rubber against each opposing pair. So, you get four sets and maybe a couple of tiebreaks each time you go out to play.

One thing that still annoys me a bit is that people around here want to play a let when they're not sure if the ball was in or out. It always feels like an attempt to cheat without cheating, if you know what I mean.

I moved from Australia where I only ever dabbled in social tennis maybe 20 times, to Malaysia where I took it up seriously, to Texas, where I continue to play.

Australia: I only ever played with my wife and a couple friends. The level (for all of us) was terrible!

Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur): I took lessons and improved really quickly to ~3.25 level. The general level is pretty good I think. Many young kids were playing the sport — I was beaten a few times by a nine year old boy, and a 13 year old girl (I'm 35 now There are many public courts available at super-cheap rates and even free.

I entered one local tournament (all ages) for fun and the level was pretty good I thought. Lost in the first round but only because I was pretty bad. The nine year old kid made it through to the third or fourth round! Watching the last few matches was pretty impressive for a local tourney.

Texas: Continued to play and have improved a little more. Joined a local league where I played well in 3.5, and am mid-level in the 4.0s. Main difference I see is the ages of people playing here, at least in central Houston: players are generally older than in KL. Not seeing as many teens or 20s playing, but it could be simply because I'm not playing at a University court. Another difference between KL and Texas in terms of 30+ year old play is in the US people try to play harder/faster/more aggressively, whereas in KL players were more crafty. Maybe it's due to it being 90F+/95% humidity every day and no one wanted to run unnecessarily.

Actually I do play a lot of mx'ed but not against them in singles anymore, arthritis.

Kostas said:

My wife and I moved from Memphis to Las Vegas to Manila, Philippines.

There is a tennis scene here, but its mostly high society social tennis. She has made many friends at the Manila Polo Club and plays there socially 2-3 times a week.

There are some very good recreational players here, but no organized competition outside of some small charity type tournaments.

We are told there's a big city-wide tournament (like USTA) once a year where all the clubs get together for a competition.

It's pretty nice though. The best thing about tennis here is you can get a court and ballboy(s) for around 500 Pesos ($12.50) for an hour and a half.

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Glad to hear you got in at the Polo Club. It is awesome. When I was there I remember there were some guys who could hit the ball; but as you said it was mostly hit and giggle. The ballboy setup is great - wish we could get something like that going in the States - get kids involved in the sport; let them earn a little money and learn responsibility; teach them the game and maybe get a few good juniors out of it.

I was recently in SIN - same thing; the pros told me there were not many tournaments - just too hot. Golf has siphoned off a lot of the players. Juniors have to travel to other countries to compete - so money (family or sponsors) is an issue.

Now living in Costa Rica....

Less courts than what I had in SC......but still, there are enough to stay busy.


Players are a bit more respectful for sure. I think I had 1 heated exchange.....in over a year......and it wasn't too bad. Back home.....there was bound to be some disagreeing or bickering every Tourney or every other league match.


We have MORE tourneys here.......I never thought that was remotely possible before I moved. There are some Leagues.....scattered.....but members only with Clubs.

Comp is very respectable. Everyone seems to be younger( 20-40 max), and good athletes. I have yet to have that match with the old, out of shape pusher like back home.

I used to work for USG and was abroad for seven years.

Public facilities in the US are unparalleled.

When I lived in South East Asia and Almaty, I found tennis to be more expensive than it was in the US for questionable facilities.

The pros were cheaper, but their skill level varied greatly. The best pros may not speak English the best thus the instruction will be limited.

Also, there is nothing like the USTA. It's mostly ad hoc matches organized at the club level.

West Coast Ace said:

The ballboy setup is great - wish we could get something like that going in the States - get kids involved in the sport; let them earn a little money and learn responsibility; teach them the game and maybe get a few good juniors out of it.

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Bad idea. I don't know about the Philipines, but ball persons in many countries are exploited children. If you employ them in the US, you have to pay minimum wage, conduct background checks on the players (don't want kids ball-boying for Bill Tilden, for example), and take care of liability issues. The facility must also not be the self-locking kind but must have an office with staff during playing hours.

After all this, where is the time for the kids going to come from? Maybe in summer. During school time, it is a bad idea to give incentives to kids not to study and do homework. The lemonade stand days are long gone, kids have much stiffer competition these days.

sureshs said:

Bad idea. I don't know about the Philipines, but ball persons in many countries are exploited children. If you employ them in the US, you have to pay minimum wage, conduct background checks on the players (don't want kids ball-boying for Bill Tilden, for example),

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Was Bill Tilden a known pedophile? I'd never heard that before.