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.