2024 has arrived and on the tennis chart it means amongst other things that the Olympic medals are at stake in Paris at the iconic Roland-Garros Stadium later this year. However, before we go to Paris, let me reflect on the STMS world conference in Mallorca, October 2023. 

The “Back to the Future” theme in Mallorca was the 1st in real life conference since the pandemic and just before the pandemic hit, we hosted the STMS world conference in Stockholm, 2019. I was once again privileged to arrange the world conference and by that I also had the honor to invite esteemed colleagues and participants to the fantastic island of Mallorca. On site we had the best setting possible provided by our partner Hospital Quironsalud Palmaplanas. The STMS conference had 20+ countries represented from all over the world and hosted 100 participants IRL and another 140 on Zoom. The scientific program was dense and included great speakers covering many different areas, altogether providing the attendees with wisdom from the past and new insights for the future. Furthermore, the major organizations such as WTA, ATP and ITF was well represented on site and in the program by great speakers sharing their knowledge.

First, a big thank you to the Spanish tennis federation for welcoming us to Spain and Mallorca, the island of Rafael Nadal. Although, the legend himself only was presence by aura, the doctor of Rafa Nadal, Dr Cotorro and his colleague Dr Perez Buendia gave each a great presentation representing both the Rafa Nadal Tennis Academy and Spanish tennis. But the stars did not end by this fantastic team. Our four keynote speakers raised the bar both from a scientific level as well as giving us clinical insights. Dr Brian Hainline one of the leading experts delivered a presentation out of the ordinary on the aspects of mental health. Dr Hainline also arranged a parallel summit follow-up meeting on the same topic underlining the importance of different organizations interacting with each other at the same point. Another highlight, as always was Dr Cools, the shoulder guru presenting on return to play strategies and tests in the upper extremity. The second day, Dr Kassarjian gave us new insights and future thoughts on radiology and the importance of teamwork between competences in the medical team. But all fairytales must come to an ending and this time the STMS society was fortunate enough to have an absolute star in Dr Reid all the way from Australia, finishing the conference by taking us through some of the future trends and innovations in tennis medicine and science. 

Looking back on the Mallorca conference, many happy memories come to mind, one thing that stands out is the interaction between experienced professionals in their respective field and the younger generation bringing new information to the table. All together the meeting included great speakers and attendees, but it also was a place for social activities and informal talks, all taken into consideration a great event from many aspects! However, without the support from our partners* both local and global it would not have been possible, a special and warm thank you to all of you!!

So, with that written the STMS as an organization feels that the momentum is strong to move forward on many areas and one of the prioritized areas is taking care of existing members and hopefully welcoming new members to the STMS. Therefore, as a first step we are launching our new modern website with the primary aim to refresh many of the things STMS stands for as an organization, but also with the ambition to further develop STMS and the different areas of tennis medicine and science. We hope that you as a member of STMS will enjoy the new website and if you are still not a member, hopefully the new website will bring inspiration enough to make you sign up for a future STMS membership.

What about Paris 2024 then? I am sure it will be a successful and great event from a tennis perspective. Although I will not guess the winners, I can only wish that we get to watch the “GOAT on clay” once again enter his “living room”, but this time in an Olympic setting!
In the meantime, the STMS and its board members will continue do their best to spread the knowledge existing in tennis medicine and creating more resources to meet and interact with all stakeholders of tennis both in IRL and on different digital platforms. 
Have a great 2024!

Fredrik Johansson

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*Hospital Quironsalud, Sophiahemmet University, Aleris, Mallorcafastigheter, Palma Sport & Tennis Club, Mallorca Country Club, ATP, WTA, ITF, Spanish Tennis Federation (RFET), KNLTB, Rafa Nadal Academy, Good to Great Tennis Academy, Tennis Research and Performance Group, Karolinska University, SiMi reality motion systems, iTPA, ROIG Mallorca, Nordic PTCA, MidUniversity, Dalarna University, SvTF.