STANDING on opposite sides of the net, there are few sports that stick to social distancing conventions as well as tennis does.

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While other sports have had to suffer dwindling numbers due to the coronavirus pandemic, tennis numbers remain strong. In some cases, they’re even increasing.

Eli Baylis runs the Baylis Tennis Academy at the Sawtell Tennis Club as well as on the Northern Beaches.

He’s pleased to report the sport he loves remains healthy.

“The competition numbers have gone up, particularly in the Wednesday night men’s competition. The number of players in the mixed competition have stayed about the same,” Baylis said.

The popular coach added that a lot of performance end players have been keen to get back into action and the number of lessons he’s teaching is returning to pre-COVID levels.

So be it singles or doubles, tennis is a safe game to play.

“You can avoid getting close to each other and if you wanted to you could use your own tennis balls to serve with to be extra cautious,” Baylis explained.

The weekend just gone should’ve seen the traditional Seaside Open played on Sawtell’s renowned clay courts but the current circumstances dictated it wasn’t meant to be.

Baylis said the Open has overcome a lot of obstacles in the past but coronavirus was one challenge that couldn’t be beaten.

“We’ve had rain and storms and all sorts of things but the tournament has always gone ahead for more than 40 years so it’s disappointing we couldn’t play this year,” he said.

“We’ll just have to wait until next year to get the Seaside Open running again.”

By Brad GREENSHIELDS