USTA National Campus Awarded 10-Year Bid To Host NCAA Championships

USTA, United States Tennis Association
Unites States Tennis Association (USTA)

WASHINGTON, December 11, 2024 (by Michael Dickens)

The NCAA has approved a bid to award the USTA National Campus the NCAA Division I men’s and women’s tennis championships for a 10-year period beginning in 2028. The announcement was made by the U.S. Tennis Association on Monday.

The landmark agreement means the city of Orlando, Fla., and the USTA National Campus will become the home of college tennis. It aims to replicate the successful model set for by the NCAA men’s College World Series [baseball] in Omaha, Neb., and the NCAA women’s College World Series [softball] in Oklahoma City, Okla.

The NCAA previously announced that the USTA National Campus was awarded the 2028 NCAA Division I men’s and women’s tennis championships.

USTA CEO and Executive Director Lew Sherr called the announcement a “momentous” achievement for both the organization and for college tennis.

“Supporting college tennis is a growing priority for the USTA as it is not only the aspirational dream of youth tennis players across the country, but is also an increasingly vital part of the elite player development pathway,” Sherr said in a statement. “We are proud to bring this event to Orlando for years to come and are excited to work alongside the NCAA and all of our local partners to elevate this event and give college tennis the platform it so richly deserves.”

The USTA plans to improve the infrastructure of the USTA National Campus by adding six indoor courts (bringing the total number of available indoor courts to 12) with improved viewing areas; permanent shade structures at the Collegiate Center, which contains 12 outdoor competition courts; and enhanced student-athlete amenities and scoring infrastructure.

Gauff leads Sportico list of highest-paid female athletes

For the second straight year, tennis star Coco Gauff of the United States ranks No. 1 in the Sportico list of highest-paid female athletes.

According to Sportico, a digital content platform that covers the business side of sports, the world’s 15 highest-paid female athletes will earn an estimated $221 million this year, an increase of 27 percent over 2023. Eleven athletes made at least $10 million in 2024, compared with six a year ago.

This year, Gauff has earned $30.4 million from prize money on the WTA Tour and endorsements. A total of $9.4 million came in tournament prize money while the rest came from her endorsements, which include: New Balance (shoes and apparel), Head (tennis racquets), Bose (stereo headphones), Rolex (wrist watches) and L’Oreal (cosmetics). Gauff is just the third woman in sports to earn more than $30 million in a single year, after Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams.

The 20-year-old Gauff defeated Zheng Qinwen in the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the end of the 2024 season, which earned her $4.805 million in prize money. It was the biggest single payout for a women’s tennis event.

Tennis players now occupy nine of the Top 15 positions in the annual report, which was released earlier this month. In addition to Gauff, also making the list were: 3. Iga Swiatek, $21.4 million; 4. Zheng Qinwen, $20.6 million; 5. Aryna Sabalenka, $17.7 million; 6. Naomi Osaka, $15.9 million; 7. Emma Raducanu, $14.7 million; 11. Jasmine Paolini, $10 million; 13. Jessica Pegula, $8.2 million; 14. Elena Rybakina, $7.9 million. The figures include both prize money and endorsement income.

Draper wins BTJA Player of the Year honors

Jack Draper, who began the year ranked 61st and finished in the Top 20 at a career-high No. 15, was named Player of the Year by the British Tennis Journalists Association (BTJA). The 22-year-old Draper won two titles in 2024, at Stuttgart on grass in June and at Vienna on an indoor hard court in October.

Andy Murray, 37, who retired from pro tennis last summer after winning 46 ATP Tour titles,  including three majors, was also honored with the BTJA’s Services to British Tennis Award for his “extraordinary contribution to the sport.”

Christopher Clarey: First The Master, next The Warrior

Christopher Clarey, who wrote about tennis for the New York Times from 1991 to 2023 before leaving to focus on writing books and to launch a Substack newsletter, has finished his manuscript for his forthcoming book The Warrior: Rafael Nadal and His Kingdom of Clay. It’s a deep-dive into the 14-time French Open champion’s career and it also explores the Spanish icon’s character.

Clarey, who is the best-selling author of the 2021 book The Master, a biography of Roger Federer, told me during a recent conversation via email about his forthcoming Nadal biography: “The manuscript is now done and we are in final edits. So it looks like we are on target for our May [2025] release date.”

In the meantime, you can follow Clarey via his “Tennis & Beyond” Substack, christopherclarey.substack.com.

The Racket: A book on the reality of being outside the elite

Speaking of books on tennis, Conor Niland‘s The Racket shares the reality of being a tennis player who is outside the elite – and it’s worth a good read. In a recent interview with The Athletic‘s Charlie Eccleshare, the current Irish Davis Cup captain – who reached a career-high ranking of No. 129 and never advanced past the first round of a major – shares his personal account of the grind of playing on the Challenger and ITF tours, “crisscrossing the world on cheap flights – and one hair-raising drive through the Uzbekistan countryside without a seatbelt.”

As Niland, 43, who turned pro in 2005, told Eccleshare, The Racket is “very accessible to people who don’t follow tennis, but it isn’t watered-down in any way for those who do know and understand the sport.”

One of the takeaways from the book, according to Niland: “You’re dealing with losing constantly and constantly trying to get better and comparing yourself with the very best in the world.” However, Niland also notes: “It was great to wake up with a dream every day – mine was to play at the Grand Slams. The fact I actually got to do it was great, even though it was bittersweet.”

Out and about

While World No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy was in Abu Dhabi for last Sunday’s Formula One Grand Prix, American Sebastian Korda was in Minneapolis, Minn., attending the NFL game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Atlanta Falcons.

The 24-year-old Korda, told Tennis.com that he became hooked on the Vikings after watching the Netflix documentary Quarterback, which featured former Minnesota quarterback Kirk Cousins.

“Haven’t missed a game in three years,” the 22nd-ranked Korda told Tennis.com‘s Baseline. “The atmosphere was one of the best I’ve seen in sports. The fans are insane.”

By the numbers

With the final 2024 ATP rankings in place, eight Americans were included among the Top 50 players, most of any country. They include: No. 4 Taylor Fritz, No. 12 Tommy Paul, No. 18 Frances Tiafoe, No. 21 Ben Shelton, No. 22 Sebastian Korda, No. 38 Brandon Nakashima, No. 41 Alex Michelsen and No. 46 Marcos Giron.

Second behind the United States is Italy, with six players in the Top 50: No. 1 Jannik Sinner, No. 17 Lorenzo Musseti, No. 32 Flavio Cobolli, No. 34 Matteo Berrettini, No. 37 Matteo Arnaldi and No. 44 Luciano Darderi.

“Quotable …”

“Tennis can offer you something – you might get bits and pieces out of it – but it’s not necessarily going to save you.”

– Conor Niland, author of The Racket, as told to The Athletic‘s Charlie Eccleshare.

 

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