My name is Orest Zub, I am a managing partner of NomadMania and a semi-pro tennis player who has had the chance to hit a court in around four dozen countries and counting. Now tennis is shaping the way I travel in may ways.
I was born in Lviv, Ukraine and started playing tennis in my early teens, but I actually switched from badminton after I failed big time in one tournament after a few years of training and lost faith in this sport as a kid.
In fact my parents pushed me hard to stay in a similar (racket and ball) sport. Initially they have sent me to try badminton in order to develop my eyesight that I was struggling with since early childhood. Tennis is much more demanding, especially financially. Not everyone could afford tennis in a post-Soviet Ukraine during the 1990s. However, as the story shows it was absolutely worth it.
Thessaloniki, Greece
First Match Abroad
My first international tennis experience happened in Torquay, UK where I spent a summer learning English all the way back in 1999. I was 12 years old. My mother bought me a new racket and I was on the seventh sky of happiness.
Torquay, UK
Due to a previous experience in badminton the progress in tennis was steep and I quickly reached the level of other peers. After two to three years of practicing I was already among the best tennis players of my age in Lviv.
However, I never made it even in the top-30 in Ukraine among juniors. So, it was pointless to continue a professional tennis career. Therefore, as most people, I simply stopped training seriously after starting high education (Law) even though I was in my university tennis team and played the tournament once a year.
Lviv, Ukraine
After I graduated and started actively travelling there was no place for tennis in my life anymore.
Orests profile on NomadMania
I stopped playing for a decade…
First Signs from Life
Somewhere in 2018 when I was visiting Togo (my 98th visited country) I was walking through the dusty streets of Lome and noticed a well maintained tennis court on the premises of an abandoned French hotel of modernistic architecture built in mid 20th century.
I was bored and decided to ask locals who is the boss over there. Quickly a local guy showed up telling he is the one who is in charge. After a short talk we arranged to play a match next morning.
Lome, Togo
Oh boy. The fellow appeared to be one of the best tennis players in the county. I was in a pretty bad shape back then due to active travelling and was barely holding on the court in the West African hot and humid climate.
Eventually, I lost big time and just reconfirmed that probably there is no place for tennis in my life.
The Best Decision
Things changed when I randomly met one of my teenage tennis buddies in a bar in Lviv one night. We were both grown-up men with a settled life in our early thirties. The different is that my friend still played tennis every week mostly for fun and to maintain some fitness level.
I decided to give it a try and joined him the following week. After the first session I asked myself: “Why did I wait for so long“. Since then I’ve been playing almost twice a week when I am not travelling.
Lviv, Ukraine
Eventually the decision to come back in tennis is one of the best things I did in my life so far. Well, probably after proposing to my wife Marta on the plane from Sharjah to Donetsk back in 2012.
Tennis and Travel
Since I continued to travel actively while aiming to visit every country in the world as many members of NomadMania, I was missing many sessions back at home, which was affecting my playing and fitness level.
So, I decided to give it a try and play tennis in other destinations I visit. This appeared to be easier than it seems. Tennis is one of the most popular sports in the world. Usually it’s enough to show up in the club and almost instantly you’ll meet a tennis buddy of your level.
You can get a slight idea of how do I play form this video.
Interestingly enough it’s much easier to arrange a match in developing countries than in the modern economies. Once a foreign guy shows up in the tennis club in Dhaka, Port au Prince, Yaounde this appears to be a really big thing.
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Yaounde, Cameroon
In USA and Western Europe in order to find tennis buddies I use apps Tennis Pal (US) and Playtomic (EU) respectively. Looking for relevant facebook groups (tennis _city_) also works. Especially in large cities.
New York City, USA
Travelling In Order To Playing Tennis
There is an international league called – ITF Masters which stands for International Tennis Federation, Masters Tour. This is a serious sport organization hosting hundreds of tennis tournaments all around the world annually. Every day there is a competition happening somewhere.
ITF Masters tournaments calendar
Masters Tour sub-leagues start from 30 y.o. and are divided in batches for every 5 years. For example, 30+, 35+, 40+ and all the way until 90+. Many former professional players downgrade into this league once they are done with a pro career. Also many good player participate in ITF Master who are practicing since childhood but never made it in the professional sport.
It felt like I found a holy grail when I stumbled upon ITF Masters (former name ITF Seniors until August 1st, 2022). I played my first ITF Masters tournament in Budapest in February 2022 just two weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine.
Then I had other more serious things to do which is a completely another story to be told some other time.
War reporting in Kharkiv, Ukraine
But this year I got back into ITF Masters. Since April 2024 I played 7 tournaments in Spain, Poland, Serbia and Greece winning thee and becoming a runner-up in two. This brought me to about 70th place in the global ranking and I can’t stop thinking of the next tournaments.
Krakow, Poland
Tennis became one of the priorities when I travel. For example, I rented and apartment in Barcelona for a month in order to participate in three tournaments in Catalonia. I usually book a hotel near the tennis club and almost never travel without a racket.
During out recent NomadMania trip to Syria I played tennis near Homs and in Beirut.
near Homs, Syria
Beirut, Lebanon
Positive Side Effects of Tennis & Travel
This is a completely different travel experience in each destination which opens a door into a local community that a regular traveller can’t even think of.
First of all, you instantly get a local friend once hitting the court who might show you other (non touristy) parts of their city and country. Tennis is somewhat an elite sport. Most of the people you meet are intelligent and might belong to a high social status which might lead to good contacts and interesting follow-up.
Yangon, Myanmar
To me this is also a way to stay fit on the road which is one of the biggest challenges for seasoned travellers who spends a significant amount of time travelling like me. Imagine running around the court in 40+ celsius heat in Cairo, sweating in Kuala Lumpur or barely moving high in the mountains in Medelin.
Cairo, Egypt
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Medelin, Colombia
Additionally, active sports help to stay sane in this crazy world and focused in order to continue working on NomadMania making it the best travel service on Earth. Make sure to check out our recent app updates here.
First Person to Play Tennis in Every Country
Since most of the travel titles regarding visiting every country are taken (first, youngest, Ukrainian etc., see our full report) maybe I could be at least the first person to play tennis in every country. Who knows? Ha-ha 😛
Miami, USA
But something I know for sure: I will definitely enjoy this ride. So, let’s carry on.
