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Writer's pictureGeir Gunnarsson

Tennis Manager 2021 review


I am not a big fan of watching sports, I’d much rather play them. I even practiced tennis as a young whippersnapper, and not sucking horribly at it.


But when it comes to sport games, I usually don't like them that much unless they have a fun gimmick or a hook. For example, Mario Golf and Tennis are both really fun, but Football and Tennis games are not.

I did have fun with Tiger woods 2010 while playing with friends but would never play it on my own. I on the other hand, really enjoy management games and have been playing all kinds through the years, everything from the original SimCity (1989) to Dyson Sphere Program (2021) with everything in between. I’ve managed cities, dungeons, hospitals, factories, theme parks, companies, trade economies, football teams, adventuring teams and whole galaxies.

I’ve enjoyed most of those games no matter the theme or genre.


Which brings me to Tennis Manager 2021. The management aspect of this game is extremely in depth and can be quite overwhelming, even for management sim enthusiasts. My first hour or so went into just clicking everything to see what happens and to get a feel for the gameplay. I got quickly lost in all the options before me.

I could create a manager from scratch with many options for stats and type of management style, and also how much experience the new manager would have. All very customizable and straightforward.



I did think the profile photos (and they are real life photos) you can choose from were a bit strange and most of the models had an awkward smile on their faces. Next you get to choose what academy you’ll sign up with, or you can even make your own academy and start completely from scratch. There are many academies to choose from and they are ranked from 1 to 5 stars, and you have the choice to work with any of them.

After choosing an academy you are greeted with an email inbox and quite a few tabs that lead to the tennis players in that academy, to their trainings, contracts and schedules amongst other things. You can completely control how the players train and rest or you can have assistants take care of that for you, I tended to stick to that option for the first few games I played and even had them schedule tournaments and so on until I got a handle on the game. You’ll not only have to deal with the players you’ll also have to deal with the media and the board of directors for the academy. The board will give you objectives they want you to complete this season and depending on the academy you’ve chosen it could be anything from making sure a player gets to a certain rank or that the academy makes so and so much revenue from the season.



The objectives do not stop there, as the player you are training might have some personal objectives that he wants to reach with you as a trainer, which could be improving his personal rank or maybe some aspect of his game. A lot to take care of on your first time but after a bit it really starts to become second nature.


Like most management sims you do not play tennis but you can watch the matches and even participate in them, kind of. You can shout encouragements during the match, request a talk after a set, and even change up the player’s tactic, which can be helpful if the player is losing.


Tennis Manager 2021 has really taken the management aspect to its extreme, if you want to be the best manager, you’ll need to learn everything there is to learn about your players so you can know what they are capable of, as well as where they should be in their skills, abilities and career, it’s then down to you to make sure that you hone their skills and make sure they become the best players they can be, for both the player and your club.


I didn't enjoy the Tennis part of the game that much but the management aspect is fantastic and could be interesting to anyone who enjoys management games.

In conclusion if you like tennis and management games you should check this out. If you only like management games maybe hold out for a sale if you are starving for these kind of games.

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