I wore a Garmin running GPS and played two sets at high altitude in Windhoek Namibia(~1800m amsl) on a all-weather surface(hard-court). The accuracy of a GPS will not provide a 100% accurate answer but can give a good indication. The first set score was 6-3 took 32mins and I ran 1.34km. The second set score was 7-5, took 44mins and I ran 1.89km (av.1.6km/set). This includes walking between points, change-overs etc. This equals about 150m per game. I'm ranked No.1 +45 age group in Namibia and I was playing a local coach so the tennis was of high-level, club standard. The distance run will increase at sea-level or on a slower surface like clay and with increased level of tennis. Therefore if it were to double for professionals playing the French open then in a 5 set match the total distance run is likely to be about 16km. Surely other coaches out there have tested this, else how do you know how far your top players should be running in their endurance work? Grant Rau - South African Tennis Coach.
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