Tennis in the United States

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Tennis in the United States
Arthur Ashe Stadium 2010.jpg
Arthur Ashe Stadium in 2010
CountryUnited States
Governing body United States Tennis Association [1]
National team(s) United States Olympics team
National competitions
International competitions

Tennis was first played in the United States in 1874. In 1881, the National Lawn Tennis Association was founded in order to organize all tennis activities in the country. The first major tennis tournament was called the US Open Championship and was also first played in 1881.

Contents

History

The first tennis clubs in the United States were formed in the mid-1870s. Mary Ewing Outerbridge allegedly introduced the sport to the United States after seeing tennis being played in Bermuda and demonstrated it to people on Staten Island in 1874. Soon tennis clubs were established across the country amongst the upper classes, including in New Orleans and San Francisco. [2] The New Orleans Lawn Tennis Club was founded in December, 1876. [3]

In 1887 the Philadelphia Cricket Club, hosted a National singles Championship. In 1888 a women's tennis tournament was soon set up. In 1900, the Davis Cup was created and held in Massachusetts.

Governing Board

United States Tennis Association was national board for tennis in the United States. The organization original name was the National Lawn Tennis Association this was changed to its current name in 1975. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] They are responsible for the promotion and development of tennis athletes in the United States.

Tournaments

There are 15 total active ATP, WTA, and Grand Slam tennis tournaments held in the United States. Twelve events are held on hard courts, two on clay, and one on grass. Six are ATP only, four are WTA only, and five tournaments are combined events. The US Open is one of four Grand Slam tennis tournaments. [9] [10] [11] [12] It is played in late August to early September at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, New York. The Indian Wells Masters, Miami Open and Cincinnati Masters are part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 and the WTA 1000. In 2025, the Dallas & Newport ATP 250 events will merge licenses with Dallas being upgraded to a 500 and Newport being phased out. [13] [14]

Active ATP / WTA Tennis Tournaments Held in the United States
NumberTitleLocationTourLevelHeldSurfaceFounded
1 Dallas Open Dallas, TXATP250 (2024)

500 (2025)

FebruaryHard2022
2 Delray Beach Open Delray Beach, FLATP250FebruaryHard1993
3 Southern California Open San Diego, CAWTA500February - MarchHard1971
4 ATX Open Austin, TXWTA250February - MarchHard2023
5 BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells, CABothMasters 1000MarchHard1974
6 Miami Open presented by Itaú Miami, FLBothMasters 1000MarchHard1985
7 Credit One Charleston Open Charleston, SCWTA500AprilClay1973
8 U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships Houston, TXATP250AprilClay1910
9 Infosys Hall of Fame Open Newport, RIATP250JulyGrass1976
10 Atlanta Open Atlanta, GAATP250JulyHard2010
11 Mubadala Citi DC Open Washington, D.CBoth500July - AugustHard1969
12 Cincinnati Open Cincinnati, OHBothMasters 1000AugustHard1899
13 Tennis in the Land Cleveland, OHWTA250AugustHard2021
14 Winston-Salem Open Winston-Salem, NCATP250AugustHard1981

2011

15 US Open Tennis Championships Queens, NYBothGrand SlamAugust -SeptemberHard1881

Players

Men's

American male tennis players used to be amongst the best in the world and produced many Grand slam winners for much of the 20th century. The number of male tennis inside ATP rankings has declined since the 21st century. [15] [16]

Women's

Helen Wills Moody won 31 Grand Slam titles in the 1920s and 1930s. She helped to popularize the overhand serve for women during the 1940s. [17] Alice Marble is another important influential American tennis player. In 1939, she was a triple champion at Wimbledon. Her style of play was characterized as masculine because of her aggressive pursuit of the ball during serves and volleys. Like Helen Wills Moody, others would go on to copy her style of play. [17] Maureen Connolly won the four Grand Slam singles tournaments in 1953. [18]

Althea Gibson was the first African American woman to win a Grand Slam tournament. [19] She claimed the singles title at the French Championships in 1956, and at Wimbledon and the US Nationals in 1957 and 1958.

In the Open Era, the United States has produced some of the most influential and successful players including Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova (defected from Czechoslovakia), Monica Seles (defected from Serbia and Montenegro), Venus Williams, and Serena Williams. The arrival of the Williams sisters is credited as the ushering in of a new era of power and athleticism on the women's tour and 23 time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams is considered by many to be the greatest women's player of all time.

See also

Related Research Articles

The US Open Tennis Championships, commonly called the US Open, is a hardcourt tennis tournament held annually in Queens, New York. Since 1987, the US Open has been chronologically the fourth and final Grand Slam tournament of the year. The other three, in chronological order, are the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon. The US Open starts on the last Monday of August and continues for two weeks, with the middle weekend coinciding with the US Labor Day holiday. The tournament is one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, originally known as the U.S. National Championship, for which men's singles and men's doubles were first played in August 1881. It is the only Grand Slam that was not affected by cancellation due to World War I and World War II, nor interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The minimum age is 14 years old.

The Grand Slam in tennis is the achievement of winning all four major championships in one discipline in a calendar year. In doubles, a team may accomplish the Grand Slam playing together or a player may achieve it with different partners. Winning all four major championships consecutively but not within the same calendar year is referred to as a "non-calendar-year Grand Slam", while winning the four majors at any point during the course of a career is known as a "Career Grand Slam".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Althea Gibson</span> American tennis player (1927–2003)

Althea Neale Gibson was an American tennis player and professional golfer, and one of the first Black athletes to cross the color line of international tennis. In 1956, she became the first African American to win a Grand Slam event. The following year she won both Wimbledon and the US Nationals, then won both again in 1958 and was voted Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press in both years. In all, she won 11 Grand Slam tournaments: five singles titles, five doubles titles, and one mixed doubles title. "She is one of the greatest players who ever lived", said Bob Ryland, a tennis contemporary and former coach of Venus and Serena Williams. "Martina [Navratilova] couldn't touch her. I think she'd beat the Williams sisters." Gibson was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame. In the early 1960s, she also became the first Black player to compete on the Women's Professional Golf Tour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Wells Open</span> Annual tennis tournament held in California

The Indian Wells Open is an annual professional tennis tournament held in Indian Wells, California, United States. It is played on outdoor hardcourts at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, and is held in March. The tournament is part of the ATP Masters 1000 events on the ATP Tour and part of the WTA 1000 events on the WTA Tour.

The Connecticut Open was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts under various names and in various venues from 1948 until 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships</span> Tennis tournament

The U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships is an annual ATP Tour tennis tournament. Founded in 1910, it has been held in nearly two dozen cities, and since 2001 has been held in Houston, Texas. It currently pays out US$474,000 with the winner receiving US$85,900. It is the only remaining ATP World Tour-level tournament in the United States to be played on clay courts.

This page covers all the important events in the sport of tennis in 1994. Primarily, it provides the results of notable tournaments throughout the year on both the ATP and WTA Tours, the Davis Cup, and the Fed Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of tennis</span>

The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today as a separate sport with more complex rules. The first Lawn Tennis Club and tournament was held in Royal Leamington Spa on 1 August 1882.

This page covers all the important events in the sport of tennis in 2013. Primarily, it provides the results of notable tournaments throughout the year on both the ATP and WTA Tours, the Davis Cup, and the Fed Cup.

The 2014 US Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 134th edition of the US Open, the fourth and final Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

The 2015 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam tennis tournament which took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom, from 29 June to 12 July 2015.

This article covers the period 1884 to present. Before the beginning of the Open era in April 1968, only amateurs were allowed to compete in established tennis tournaments, including the four Grand Slams. Wimbledon, the oldest of the majors, was founded in 1877, followed by the US Open in 1881, the French Open in 1891, and the Australian Open in 1905. Beginning in 1905 and continuing to the present day, all four majors have been played yearly, with the exception of the two World Wars, 1986 for the Australian Open, and 2020 for Wimbledon. The Australian Open is the first major of the year (January), followed by the French Open (May–June), Wimbledon (June–July), and US Open (August–September).

The 2018 US Open was the 138th edition of tennis' US Open and the fourth and final Grand Slam event of the year. It was held on outdoor hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City.

The 2019 US Open was the 139th edition of tennis' US Open and the fourth and final Grand Slam event of the year. It was held on outdoor hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City.

The 2020 US Open was the 140th edition of tennis's US Open and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It was held on outdoor hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, New York. The tournament was an event run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and was part of the calendars for the 2020 ATP Tour and the 2020 WTA Tour, the top professional men's and women's tennis circuits, respectively.

The 2021 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom, the first since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Novak Djokovic successfully defended his gentlemen's singles title to claim his record-equalling 20th major title, defeating Matteo Berrettini in the final. Simona Halep was the defending ladies' singles champion from 2019, but she withdrew from the competition due to a calf injury. The Ladies' Singles title was won by Ashleigh Barty, who defeated Karolína Plíšková in the final.

References

  1. ↑ "USTA History". usta.com. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  2. ↑ "USTA History" . Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  3. ↑ "About the NOLTC" . Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  4. ↑ Corbett, Merlisa Lawrence. "Why Is American Tennis Dying?". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  5. ↑ Rhoden, William C. (9 September 2012). "To Excel in Tennis, United States Should Look to High Schools" . Retrieved 12 March 2019– via NYTimes.com.
  6. ↑ Hahn, Steven; Hahn, Declan (9 September 2011). "The Surprising Reason for the Decline of American Tennis" . Retrieved 12 March 2019– via The New Republic.
  7. ↑ Morales, Miguel. "American Tennis Isn't Dying But It Does Need Help". Forbes. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  8. ↑ Heitner, Darren. "American Tennis' Deep Decline Necessitates Shift To Youth Development". Forbes. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  9. ↑ Post, Sponsor. "9 things you didn't know about the US Open". Business Insider. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  10. ↑ Pilon, Mary (11 September 2015). "Straight Sets at Night: How the Lights at the U.S. Open Changed Tennis" . Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  11. ↑ Graham, Bryan Armen (11 September 2017). "The US Open showed black women have made American tennis great again" . Retrieved 11 March 2019– via www.theguardian.com.
  12. ↑ Walker, Rhiannon (1 August 2017). "The rich and nuanced history of black people in tennis" . Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  13. ↑ Tennis.com. "ATP upgrades Dallas, Doha, Munich to 500 events from 2025; Atlanta, Lyon, Newport to end". Tennis.com. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  14. ↑ "Dallas, Doha & Munich Upgraded To ATP 500 Tournaments From 2025 | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour. Retrieved 2024-02-12.
  15. ↑ Eccleshare, Charlie (27 August 2018). "Special report: The strange, slow death of American men's tennis - and how US plans to bounce back" . Retrieved 11 March 2019– via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  16. ↑ Sopher, Philip (22 August 2014). "Explaining the U.S. Tennis Slump". The Atlantic. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  17. 1 2 Robertson 1974 , p. 36
  18. ↑ Robertson 1974 , p. 40
  19. ↑ "The story of Althea Gibson: the first African-American to win the US Open" . The Independent. 7 September 2017. Archived from the original on 2022-05-27. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
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