New England Leads the way

New England leads the way

New England was home to many groundbreaking events in tennis. The first National Championships, which grew into the US Open, were played at the Newport Casino in Newport, Rhode Island in 1881 and the first Davis Cup competition was played at Longwood Cricket Club in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts in 1900.

The Beginning

On January 25, 1927, a group of 30 people from tennis clubs throughout New England gathered in Boston to "better organize the tennis clubs in New England and to foster the sport in that territory." Thus, the New England Lawn Tennis Association was formed. Eleven days later, on February 5, 1927, at the United States Lawn Tennis Association Annual Meeting, the national organization officially recognized the new section. Players from New England continued to make an impact on the tennis scene, taking home six national titles in 1928.

The Game Changes

The "New England Resolution," written by Harry Kirsch (Auburndale, MA) and adopted by the USLTA in 1968, led the way to "open" tennis, which was introduced in 1969. New England's own Walter Elcock (Chestnut Hill, MA) is the only American to serve as president of the International Tennis Federation during the open era. Twelve New Englanders were inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. An additional 13 enshrinees had ties to New England by playing college tennis here.

In 1980, New England teams won the first-ever USA League Tennis National Championship in the women's 5.5 division (Northeast Tennis Center, Middleton, MA) and the 3.5 division (Field Club of Longmeadow, MA).

NELTA changed its name to USTA/New England in October 1991 to better identify with the national organization. In May 2000, our name changed to USA Tennis New England, strengthening the organization’s commitment to the USA Tennis grassroots and competitive programs.

The Tradition Continues

USA Tennis New England continued to set tennis history in 2001. In May, 582 Girl Scouts took part in the largest-ever USA Tennis Free Lesson, given at the Connecticut Tennis Center. In August, Pilot Pen Tennis, A USTA women's professional event, drew a record crowd of 92,687. The USA Tennis Plan for Growth, an industry-wide initiative to increase tennis participation, reached its goal when the game’s one-millionth new player took a USA Tennis 1-2-3 class at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.

On February 5, 2002, USA Tennis New England celebrated its 75th Anniversary. A year-long series of special events helped the section, one of 17 in the United States Tennis Association, celebrate tennis in New England. This year, we celebrate the 25th Anniversary of League Tennis in the USTA.