Toll that tennis takes on the hands – but who do they belong to? | Sport

Inspired by an outstanding article in the German magazine Tennis, The Times carried out a similar project at Wimbledon to show the impact that decades of wear and tear has on the hands of top male and female tennis players.

We spoke to Clay Sniteman, medical director and physiotherapist for the ATP Tour, about why the players’ hands look the way they do. “Typical issues that players have with their hands are blisters and calluses,” he said. “Calluses develop because of the sheer force when they hold the racket, the position of it in their hand and the way it moves around. It is a delicate balancing act as players like to have a bit of a callus, so they don’t want to shave them…