Freelance Writer

racket sports, a speciality. Otherwise, anything quirky! Former real tennis champ and tennis tournament player. London based.

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  • Real Tennis at Queen's Club

    Real Tennis at Queen's Club

  • Koh Lanta, Thailand

    Koh Lanta, Thailand

TENNIS

TENNIS

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LIFESTYLE

LIFESTYLE

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TRAVEL

TRAVEL

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FICTION/FACTION

FICTION/FACTION

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Reader’s Comment…

Posted on by in Tennis, Tennis/Real Tennis, Tennis/Real Tennis/Sport blogs, Uncategorized | Leave a comment
Nice to get this from a reader:
Hi, I really enjoy reading Languedoc Living every day.   I especially appreciate Katrina Allen’s updates on the major tennis tournaments and I totally endorse her article about Serena’s behaviour in the US Open’s Ladies Final.
 
 I would like to point out that Serena screams racism;  doesn’t screaming abuse at a Portuguese umpire constitute racism?  I would have thought so.

The US Open Tennis 2018 – highlights

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This article appeared in Languedocliving.com

The US Open was filled with controversy this year, making the whole thing rather interesting for reasons other than just the tennis.

For British viewers, the tournament was being aired, for the first time, on Amazon Prime. The whole user experience was dreadful. At one point Amazon was so overwhelmed with complaints that the system crashed and reviews were suspended. Read More

Diva Magazine, The Gay Games, Paris, 4th – 11th August, 2018.

Posted on by in Lifestyle articles, Lifestyle blogs, Tennis, Tennis/Real Tennis, Tennis/Real Tennis/Sport blogs, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

“Participation, Inclusion and Personal Best”

by Katrina Allen

The Gay Games, a huge sporting event, is held, like the Olympics, every four years.

It first took place in San Francisco in 1982, featuring 17 sports, 12 nations and 1,350 participants. It was a huge success and it was clear that this LGBT+ sporting celebration would continue.

Since then, the event has been held in cities such as Vancouver, New York, Amsterdam, Sydney and Cologne. Each time the numbers have increased. By 2006 there were 30 sports and cultural events, 70 nations and 11,700 participants.

This year, the sporting extravaganza is to be held in Paris from 4th -11th August.

The Gay Games was initially known as the Gay Olympics but objections were raised by the Olympic Committee and the name was changed. It was a reasonable request since the whole ethos of the Gay Games is about inclusion, not just within the community but also across various standards, which go from beginner to expert. The Olympics, of course, is all about excellence, world-class athletes within their sport.

From synchronised swimming to pétanque to wrestling – you name it … The full list of sports can be found at https://www.paris2018.com/sports-list/ Read More

Wimbledon 2018

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This article appeared in Languedoc Living

Novak Djokovic (photo: Katrina Allen)

 

 

 

 

 

Much of Wimbledon was rather flat this year due to World Cup frenzy coinciding with the Championships.

Even some of the players appeared to want to cheer on their teams rather than play their own matches.

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Rafael Nadal Wimbledon 2018

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Real Tennis – Wimbledon Debentures Website

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Real Tennis, what exactly is it?

 

About time!

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At this point, the commentator said “and that’s her girlfriend and coach”. I have never heard that from a commentator before.

Good on them all for normalising it…

And it was replayed on match of the day – Navratilova raised her eyebrows, grinned and gave an approving nod in Becker’s direction. Clare Balding said nothing – she should have done but maybe she was worried about her job – wouldn’t surprise me.

 

 

Murray Out! All Eyes on Edmund..

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                  Andy Murray Clutching at Hip (photo: Katrina Allen)

So, Andy Murray has withdrawn from Wimbledon. It’s sad for him and it’s also sad for those of us who were rubbing our hands in anticipation of what would have been a fascinating match against the Frenchman Benoit Paire in the first round. Paire would have been a tricky opponent, having had two match points in a hugely tense final set tie break against Roger Federer in Halle.
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“Bad Boy” Dan Evans is back

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Wimbledon Qualifying A Court-Side Special Review

Queen’s Club 2018

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Nick Krygios

Novak Djokovic

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Queen’s Club Fever Tree Championships 2018

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Has much changed in women’s tennis? Diva Magazine

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This article appeared in Diva Magazine in June 2018

Back in 2014, I wrote an article for Diva Magazine about Amélie Mauresmo, a former World No 1 tennis player. She had just been appointed coach to Andy Murray, which rocked the tennis world since it was the first time a woman, let alone a lesbian, had coached a top ten male player. Read More

Andy Murray’s Return to Form..

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This article appears on the Wimbledon Debentures website

https://www.wimbledondebentureholders.com/

 

Murray vs Krygios at The Queen’s Club Fever Tree Championships, Tuesday 19 June.

 

Murray vs Krygios a special court-side review

 

https://www.wimbledondebentureholders.com/

England Fans Troll Australia for Ball-Tampering Saga

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This article appeared in Givemesport.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s the scandal that shocked the cricket world and two months on, it is still a hot topic of debate.

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Agassi Tips Two American Prospects to Replace Federer and Nadal

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This article appeared in Givemesport.com

Rafael Nadal has just won his 11th Roland Garros title at the age of 32.

Roger Federer, at the age of 36, is favourite to win this year’s Wimbledon.

These two players have won all the Grand Slam titles between them since Melbourne last year and appear to be unbeatable.

So, who might be future contenders for those Slam titles?

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French Tennis Open – Roland Garros 2018

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This article appeared in LanguedocLiving.com

by Katrina Allen

 

There were two big questions at the start of the tournament this year. Could Novak Djokovic regain his form and test Rafael Nadal, the “King of Clay”? And could Serena Williams possibly come back after having had her first child in September and having played only a handful of matches since then?

But the tournament turned out to be far more exciting than that, with some nail-biting matches.

 

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Real Tennis – Day One; Can Camden hang onto his title?

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The Queen’s Club, London

24 April 2018

Rob Fahey vs Camden Riviere

DAY ONE

 

A taster – from the previous world championships

Camden Riviere was here to defend his title! Fahey was very much the underdog, mostly due to the considerable age difference. You can train as much as you like but giving away nearly 20 years is a pretty tall order. Read More

Real Tennis – Day 2: Is Rob Fahey down and out?

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The Queen’s Club, London

April 2018

Real Tennis World Championship

DAY TWO

 

Real-tennis-rackets-balls

photo : wikimedia commons

For the first day’s report go to Day One

What an extraordinary day’s play!  Rob looked finished at the end of day one where he managed to win the first set and then appeared to run out of steam.

Today, he came out looking fresh and squeezed the first set in a tight 6-5. He then managed to take the second with a real nail-biting 6-4 which made them level at three sets all.

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Real Tennis – Day 3: Rob Fahey – a World Champion at 50!

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The Queen’s Club, London

April 2018

Rob Fahey vs Camden Riviere

DAY THREE

 

Happy Birthday Rob Fahey!

 

Screen Shot 2018-05-05 at 6.02.33 pm

The Queen’s Club

 

For previous days’ reports go to Day One and Day Two

Fahey now needed to win two sets against an injured Camden to reach the magic number seven and the title.

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The Guardian April 2018

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