The sport needs more team tennis

Sam Groth and Nicole Gibbs are giving fans a behind-the-scenes look at the world of professional tennis all year long in My Tennis Life. To read more updates from Sam and Nicole, go to tennischannel.com.

After finishing the World Team Tennis season, I'm back into tournament mode and start this week in Aptos, Calif. I arrived early Friday morning—flying from San Diego to San Jose, rented a car and drove down to Aptos. I'm staying in housing this week, with a host family, three minutes walk from the courts which is handy. It's nice to get out of a hotel and be in a house for a week.

The World Team Tennis season wasn't the best for the Kastles this year (we finished last), but it's such an enjoyable experience to be a part of a team. Outside of Davis Cup, it's something that I feel tennis is missing. Even though team matches don't get a lot of publicity globally, throughout the year a lot of guys are playing team matches around the world, whether in the U.S. with WTT or club matches in Germany or France. It definitely helps financially, but I think being a part of the team environment is a big reason why guys play.

I'm playing singles and doubles this week in Aptos. It's my first hard-court tournament since March, so I'm excited to get back into it and will keep you all updated how the week goes.