As for the product itself, despite an increase in aces and other unreturnable serves and what some believe is excessive power in general, the increased speed and overall athleticism of ATP and WTA pros continue to provide plenty of scintillating shots and thrilling points.

Conflicts and controversies among various political factions locally and globally have long kept tennis from reaching its potential. This year, we’ve had heated debates about double standards for doping punishments for Sinner, Swiatek, and Halep. We’ve had criticism of pros complaining about long, grueling tournament schedules yet finding the time and energy to play lucrative exhibitions. Then there’s the moral quandary about whether the WTA should stage its WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia, a notorious violator of women’s rights. Tennis will likely survive these and other political battles.

A far greater, even apocalyptic, threat to tennis and all sports, however, is climate change. In the United States alone, eight cataclysmic storms cost $500 billion in 2024, taking a financial and emotional toll on millions of Americans. Hurricanes, tornadoes, cyclones, avalanches, drought, mass flooding, dangerously high levels of air and water pollution, extreme heat—Phoenix endured 113 days with temperatures over 100 degrees F.—mudslides, and wildfires made life miserable and even unlivable for more and more cities and towns.

“It’s likely the total number of people killed in extreme weather events intensified by climate change this year is in the tens, or hundreds of thousands,” said a World Weather Attribution (WWA) and Climate Central report released on Dec. 27.

The future looks even bleaker. The 2015 Paris Agreement’s goal to limit human-caused warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times is in jeopardy because 11 of the world’s 20 wealthiest nations—which are responsible for 77% of the carbon pollution in the air—have fallen short of their pledged emission-cutting goals.

“We are not making progress and are now following a 3.1 degree path, which is, with next to zero certainty, a path to disaster,” warns Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

The climate crisis impacts the sports world in several ways. It endangers the health and lives of athletes, including 100 million tennis players, and the three billion sports fans. It suspends, postpones, or even cancels, sports events. And it damages or destroys sports facilities.

Torrential rainfall and flash floods in eastern Spain caused widespread destruction and resulted in 224 deaths. The Nadal Tennis Academy was damaged and football matches were postponed.

Right now a bushfire is racing through Grampians National Park in Victoria, Australia, and has already consumed an area the size of Singapore.

In 2020, bushfires that raged across Australia during early January produced dangerously high levels of air pollution that left some competitors gasping during one day of the Australian Open qualifying event.

Liam Brody, a British player, tweeted, “Citizens of Melbourne were warned to keep their animals indoors the day I played qualifying, and yet we were expected to go outside for high-intensity physical competition? What do we have to do to create a players’ union? Where is the protection for players, both male and female? When multiple players need asthma spray on court, and they don't even have asthma? When a player collapses and has to retire due to respiratory issues? On tour, we let so many things go that aren’t right, but at some point, we have to make a stand. ALL players need protection, not just a select few.”

What will you do in the coming year to help avert the coming climate catastrophe and save tennis?

Paul Fein — Dec. 27, 2024