A Day in the Life of a Sports Photographer at a Tennis Tournament

The Australian Open 2026 has just come to an end. My favorite Grand Slam tournament — comfortable, well-organized, and incredibly rewarding for a professional photographer. Using it as an example, I wanted to describe what a typical working day looks like at an event like this.

My favorite tournament is the Australian Open

A usual day for a sports photographer at a major tennis tournament begins with a struggle. Not with a camera, and not with a ball — but with the alarm clock. You desperately want more sleep, but you have to get up early. The tournament does not wait. You need time to get ready, travel to the venue, have breakfast, and most importantly, arrive at least an hour before the first matches begin.

From the outside, that hour may seem like a formality. In reality, it defines the entire day. You study the schedule, identify key courts, players, and potential overlaps between matches. You mentally build your movement logistics, because at a big tournament you are not just photographing tennis — you are constantly on the move. And of course, coffee. Without it, a sports photographer’s morning simply does not exist.

What follows is best described as controlled chaos. Matches usually start around 10 a.m., and the day can stretch well past midnight — especially at tournaments with night sessions, where matches often run long, as they frequently do at Grand Slams. You enter this rhythm and only leave it once the final match of the day is over.

At the US Open, the best spots are always reserved for photographers

Throughout the day, you are in constant motion. Two cameras on your shoulders, extra lenses, memory cards, water, small accessories. You move between courts, search for the best positions, experiment with angles, and occasionally allow yourself some creativity when the situation and the light permit. Often you have to push through crowds of spectators, although at major tournaments accredited photographers are usually recognized by their badges and allowed through — sometimes quite literally escorted through dense crowds.

There are also unwritten rules. Professional photojournalists are often allowed to step onto the court not only during changeovers, but also between points. Organizers trust professionals because they know we understand the boundaries and will never interfere with play. Rare incidents — like the recent case at the US Open, where a photographer ran onto the court during a rally — only underline how essential that trust is.

It is considered unprofessional and disrespectful to bother players during warm-ups or practice sessions, even when you are standing just an arm’s length away, by asking for selfies or autographs. And there are many other subtle, unspoken rules like this in the profession.

Your badge is always with you — without it, you can’t go anywhere. Every day, a fixed amount is credited to it, which you can then spend on food at the media restaurant

Lunch during such a day is a necessity, not a pleasure. The energy expenditure is enormous, and without eating it becomes impossible to keep working. But there is almost no time. A quick bite and straight back to the courts. Sometimes you also need to select and transmit images to an agency on the fly, if the situation demands it.

Every tournament has its own specifics. Sometimes you think mostly about light and backgrounds, and sometimes about pure survival. At the Australian Open, for example, a bottle of water and a special seat pad are essential — otherwise the sun-heated benches quickly remind you who is in charge. Dehydration and overheating are not abstract concepts; they are very real parts of the working day.

The Miami Open and Indian Wells are extremely comfortable tournaments to work at

When the matches finish, the work does not. A second shift begins. You sit down at your laptop and search through thousands of images for the right ones — the best, the most alive, the most precise. Selection, cropping, technical processing, export, transmission to the agency. You go to bed deep into the night, knowing that in just a few hours it will all start again.

The first week of a major tournament is the toughest. Many courts, many matches, many interesting players at the same time. You want to be everywhere, and you move around the complex almost nonstop. The workload is extreme, but there is a certain energy in this madness. The effort is truly worth it.

As the tournament reaches its final stages, things become calmer. Fewer matches, simpler logistics, more time. And that is when you unexpectedly catch yourself feeling nostalgic for those early days — the running, the chaos, the sense of being at the heart of a huge living organism. At the time it was exhausting. Later, it is remembered with warmth.

A day in the life of a sports photographer at a tennis tournament is rarely easy. But it is almost always real. And perhaps that is exactly what makes you return to the courts, again and again.

Another Australian Open is over — sad, but it’s time to head home…