The United States Tennis Association
Raising the Game
by Warren F. Kimball
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Pub Date Dec 01 2017 | Archive Date Dec 14 2017
Description
The United States Tennis Association is an in-depth look at the history of the United States Tennis Association (USTA) and how this sports organization has helped cultivate and organize tennis in the United States over the past 135 years. Starting as a group of elite white men from country clubs in the Northeast, the organization has become the largest tennis association in the world, with women in top leadership positions and an annual revenue of well over $300 million. The USTA was key in establishing the Open Era in tennis in 1968, when professionals began competing with amateurs in Grand Slam events; for expanding the game in the United States during the 1970s tennis boom; and for establishing the U.S. Open as one of the most prestigious and largest-attended sports events in the world.
Unique among sports-governing bodies, the USTA is a mostly volunteer-run organization that, along with a paid professional staff, manages and governs tennis at the local level across the United States and owns and operates the U.S. Open. The association participates directly in the International Tennis Federation, manages U.S. participation in international tennis competitions (Fed Cup and Davis Cup), and interacts with professional tennis within the United States. The story of how tennis is managed by the nation’s largest cadre of volunteers in any sport is one of sports’ best untold stories.
With access to the private records of the USTA, Warren F. Kimball tells an engaging and rich history of how tennis has been managed and governed in the United States.
Advance Praise
“Warren Kimball has created as comprehensive a look as you will ever see of the USTA and its innermost workings. A tremendous accomplishment and great fun for tennis insiders. I loved it.”—Patrick McEnroe, ESPN commentator
“As a distinguished historian of diplomacy, Warren Kimball has long shaped the way we think about the leaders and legacy of World War II. Now he has turned his formidable skills to chronicling the leaders and legacy of the United States Tennis Association and of the sport of tennis itself, charting the history and meaning of a noble and challenging pastime. This is an engaging and illuminating book.”—Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9780803296930 |
| PRICE | $39.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 472 |
Links
Featured Reviews
Lance S, Reviewer
Starting out as a group of elite white men from the northeastern part of the United States to help promote the game of “lawn tennis”, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) has become the largest tennis association in the world. The organization boasts women in many leadership roles, revenues that total well into nine figures and is mostly run by volunteers. The story of how this organization grew into a unique governing body is told in this book by Warren F. Kimball.
The UST(L)A – L for Lawn as that was the complete name for many years – had its humble beginnings in the Northeast and was composed of tennis clubs instead of individual memberships. Indeed, the USTA did not begin soliciting individual members until the 1960’s, preferring instead to keep the organization as one of a collection of clubs. The organization did grow from the Northeast all the way to California and spots in between but for most of its early years, it reflected the culture of the Northeast. Kimball’s research and attention to detail bear this out well.
A major theme throughout the book is that the USTA would try to keep its championship tournament (which is today’s US Open) and the organization as a whole open to amateur players only. Professionals who were collecting money for playing the game, in any fashion (prize money as we know it today was not won in those days), such as Suzanne Lenglen and Bill Tilden, were considered rogues. In Tilden’s case, his rebellious ways against the USTA style did not help win him any fans in the organization. However, this gradually changed as more people were willing to pay to watch these outstanding player and in 1968, professionals were allowed in the USTA and the US Open was truly an “open” tourney for both amateurs and professionals.
The organization’s history after that point is also covered in the book as the game’s revenues and popularity grew out of being the reputation of being an elitist sport to one that can be enjoyed by all, both as a player and a spectator. Through the book’s entire description of USTA history, Kimball writes with meticulous detail that has to be read carefully. This is not a book for the reader who wants a quick history lesson. Instead, the reader who wants to learn everything he or she can about this extraordinary organization will want to pick up a copy of this one.
I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
