Since May and without breaks: what my work looks like inside tennis
For the past few months, I've been practically living inside tennis. Not in the figurative, flowery sense that usually adorns press releases, but quite literally: courts, editing, accreditations, training sessions, matches, ceremonies, interviews, urgent photo editing, writing, publications, and then back to the courts.
In reality, my current job has long been about more than just arriving at a tournament, snapping a few good shots, and heading home with full memory cards. I simultaneously work as a sports photographer, tennis journalist, editor, media specialist , and someone who helps organize the media life of a tournament or major sports project.
Since May, this rhythm has become especially dense.
Preparations for the opening of the National Tennis Center
One of the key events was the opening of the new National Tennis Center of Moldova. For the country, this was more than just the launch of another sports facility. It was the creation of a modern tennis infrastructure that would serve as a base for national teams, juniors, international tournaments, and the future development of Moldovan tennis.
Preparations for such an event begin long before famous players take to the courts and spectators take their seats in the stands.
A beautiful ceremony always requires a tremendous amount of behind-the-scenes work. It's important to consider how the venue will appear in the frame, what areas should be prepared for the press and partners, where photographers and videographers will work, how to organize the media coverage, and what materials to publish before, during, and immediately after the event.
This is where my work really goes beyond the usual sports photography.
I watched the center gradually transform from a construction site into a place that already exuded a tennis atmosphere. I photographed the preparations, the details, the practice courts, and the people working on the project. At the same time, I had to prepare texts, news, announcements, and visual materials for the Moldovan Tennis Federation's website and social media.
The opening itself turned out to be truly grand. Simona Halep , Juan Martin del Potro , Radu Albot , and Liya Belibova . For a photographer, it's a near-perfect combination: big names, excitement, spectators, a new arena, a historic moment.
But filming such events is more difficult than a regular match.
We need to simultaneously show the athletes, the atmosphere, the crowd's reaction, the official part, the partners, the architecture of the new complex, and the feeling that everything was created to achieve. One good shot doesn't mean anything here. A whole visual story is needed.
While a viewer sees a few published photos, a photographer has already walked dozens of times from one side of the court to the other, changing lenses, finding the right light, capturing the participants' entrances, warm-ups, game sequences, smiles, the awards ceremony, and official meetings. And then the selection and editing begins almost immediately, because the news can't wait until the next morning. The internet, as we know, is not known for its patience.
ATP Challenger 100
Almost immediately after its opening, the National Tennis Center hosted the ATP Challenger 100 Moldova Open .
This was a new level for Moldova. A tournament of this caliber places serious demands not only on the sporting organization but also on the media, visual design, television coverage, partner management, and daily information support.
During the tournament, I practically lived according to his schedule.
The morning began with understanding which matches were especially important to film, which players were of interest to local audiences, where a strong story could emerge, and what materials would be needed by the organizers, the ATP, partners, and social media.
Then work began on the courts.
Photographing tennis is both easy and difficult. It's easy because there's constant movement. It's difficult because the vast majority of shots look the same: player, racket, ball, standard stance.
A professional photographer's job isn't simply to capture a shot. They need to capture the player's character, tension, fatigue, joy, irritation, the turning point. Sometimes the best shot comes not during the play, but a second after, when the player lowers his head, debates with himself, or suddenly smiles at his coach.
Challenger provided a huge number of such scenes.
There were young players trying to take the next step in their professional careers, experienced tennis players who earned every ranking point through hard work, matches in the heat, long rallies, unexpected victories and defeats that left athletes struggling for several minutes afterward.
While filming, I was preparing materials for the website and social media. I needed to cover not only the results but also the tournament itself, the participants, the atmosphere, the spectators, the team's work, and the significance of this event for Moldovan tennis.
This is an important point. The results table can be accessed on any sports website. The journalist's job is to explain the meaning behind these numbers.
Why was this match important? What changed during the match? Which young players caught the eye? How did the players themselves perceive the tournament? What was happening around center court?
That's why I try not to work as someone who shoots and writes separately. For me, photography and text are parts of a single story.
Davis Cup
Following the Challenger , the National Tennis Centre hosted the Davis Cup European Zone competitions.
And here everything changed.
In a typical professional tournament, an athlete plays for themselves. In the Davis Cup, they take to the court for their team and country. It's a completely different emotional temperature.
Players who might be rivals throughout the season find themselves on the same bench. Every play is shared by the captain, teammates, coaches, and fans. Even a simple game win can sometimes evoke a reaction as if the entire match has already been won.
For a photographer, team competitions provide a lot of material.
It's important to film more than just the player on the court. The team bench, the captain's reactions, the support of teammates, the communication between matches, the anticipation of the result, and the moments after the decisive balls are all of paramount importance.
It is the Davis Cup that often produces photographs that later become part of a country's sporting history.
Moldova played the tournament with great confidence and achieved a promotion. It was important for me to show this progress not only through the gameplay but also through the team's atmosphere: the concentration before taking the court, the captain's advice, the fans' support, the tension in the decisive moments, and the emotions after victory.
On days like these, work continues long after the last match has finished.
You need to quickly select photos, prepare publications, check the results, write text, create short versions for social media, and distribute materials to partners and media outlets.
Sometimes, less than an hour passes between the final shot and the full publication of the story. That hour somehow manages to squeeze in the selection of hundreds of frames, processing, writing the text, and checking names, accounts, and details. You have to hustle and bustle…
Junior tennis
The work wasn't over after the major international events. The next important part of the season had begun: junior competitions.
On the surface, they may appear smaller in scale than the ATP Challenger or Davis Cup. There are fewer spectators, cameras, and big names. But from a professional perspective, junior tennis is sometimes even more exciting.
These tournaments show athletes at a time when their playing style and character are just beginning to develop.
Some already conduct themselves on the court like seasoned professionals. Others still struggle to cope with their emotions. One player wins through technique, another through character, and a third doesn't yet fully understand how talented they are.
I am especially interested in observing this process.
I've worked in tennis for many years and have seen countless players at various stages of their careers. Some of those who were once photographed at modest junior tournaments later took to the courts of Grand Slam tournaments.
That's why I never perceive junior tournaments as something secondary.
For a child or teenager, this could be their first international competition, their first major victory, their first tough defeat, their first encounter with players from other countries. A few years later, they might barely remember the score, but the photo from that tournament will remain.
In recent weeks, the National Tennis Centre has hosted several junior competitions and training projects.
Tennis training camp took a special place Europe for players under 14. For a week, young tennis players from different countries trained together, participated in theoretical lessons, discussed tactics, and played practice matches.
Here again my work involved several directions at once.
The training sessions needed to be shown in a way that didn't make the photos look like a monotonous series of shots. We needed to capture the interactions between coaches and players, the drills, the emotions, the communication between participants, and the international atmosphere of the camp.
At the same time, I was preparing texts explaining why such programs are necessary. They're not just a few extra training sessions. For young players, they're an opportunity to experience a different approach to tennis, meet new coaches, compare their level with peers from other countries, and feel part of a larger European tennis community.
After the camp, many participants stayed in Chisinau to compete in the Tennis tournament Europe Junior Tour . And this created a natural progression: first training and preparation, then real matches, where the acquired knowledge could be tested under the pressure of results.
What usually remains behind the scenes
Most of my work never gets published.
Behind the scenes are early arrivals to empty courts, inspections of the venue, selection of suitable filming locations, conversations with judges and organizers, the wait for a match that could be delayed for several hours, and the constant battle with the weather.
There are thousands of photographs left that no one will ever see, because you have to choose the best one from a whole series.
Behind the scenes, there are clarifications of names, translations of materials into several languages, corrections of results, and selection of a photograph that should explain the essence of the event in a few seconds.
Sometimes, in the course of a single day, I manage to be a photographer, journalist, editor, translator, media coordinator , and the person who explains why advertising structures cannot be placed directly in front of photographers' workstations.
But that's exactly what interests me.
I am not next to tennis, but inside it.
I see the tournament before the spectators arrive, during the decisive matches, and after the courts are empty again. I see famous athletes and those whose names are still known only to their parents and coaches. I see the official side of big-time sport and its true inner life.
Over the past few months, my lens has captured the opening of the National Tennis Centre, world tennis stars, the ATP Challenger 100, Davis Cup matches, international junior tournaments and training camps.
But the most important thing for me is not the number of events.
I'm interested in collecting tennis history from individual moments.
From a player's gaze before serving. From the team's reaction after scoring the winning goal. From the fatigue of a young athlete after a three-hour match. From an empty center court early in the morning. From the smile of a child holding an international trophy for the first time.
It's moments like these that keep me filming, writing, and working within a sport I've known for years, but which still shows me something new every day.
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