United States Tennis Association

USTA is a redirect to this article. For more and other terms see Usta

United States Tennis Association
Founded	May 21, 1881
Place of foundation	Fifth Avenue Hotel , New York City
President	Katrina Adams
societies	8,000
Members	770,000
Association headquarters	White Plains , New York
Homepage	www.usta.com

The United States Tennis Association ( USTA ) is the national tennis association of the United States . With around 8,000 clubs and a total of around 770,000 members, it is one of the largest national tennis associations in the world. Its founding in 1881 also makes it the oldest national tennis association.

history

In 1880 the first American tennis championships were held on Staten Island in New York under the direction of EH Outerbridge, the manager of the Staten Island Cricket Club and a brother of Mary Outerbridge . After a dispute about the method of counting, the weight of the ball and the height of the net had arisen in the course of the tournament, the establishment of a national association was called for, which should establish uniform rules. The United States National Lawn Tennis Association was founded on May 21, 1881 at the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York by 36 representatives from 19 clubs on the initiative of EH Outerbridge, James Dwight and Clarence Clark , the chairman of the All Philadelphia Lawn Tennis Committee . At the constituent meeting it was decided to adopt the rules of the All England Club and hold annual championships. A month later, the association awarded the first hosting of the championships to Newport , Rhode Island , the start date was set for August 31 of the same year.

In 1913, when the International Tennis Federation was founded in Geneva , the American federation refused to join because the ITF had a system of three world championships, exclusively in European venues - the world championships on hard courts , the indoor world championships and the world championships on grass ( Wimbledon Championships ) - established and thus degraded the US championships to a second-rate tournament. However, after the ITF rejected this system ten years later and it was agreed to recognize the US championships as one of the four most important tournaments in the world (today Grand Slam tournaments ), the association joined the ITF in 1923. In 1920 the term “National” was removed from the self-name, in 1975 the “Lawn” was also shortened a few years after the start of the Open Era .

Organization, tasks and financing

The USTA is divided into 17 geographic sections. It is led by a 14-person board of directors with Katrina Adams as the current executive chairman and president.

In addition to promoting tennis as a recreational sport (“community tennis”), the USTA organizes a total of 94 tournaments in the USA, most of which are part of the Challenger , Satellite or Future Tour . She also organizes the US Open and is the owner of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center . Her tasks also include the selection of US teams for the Davis Cup , the Fed Cup , the Olympic and Paralympic Games . Finally, she runs several programs to promote promising young players.

The USTA is financed through the sale of television broadcasting rights, sponsors, ticket sales, merchandising and membership fees. The majority of the revenue is generated in connection with the US Open.

Sources and web links

• www.usta.com (official website)
• Heiner Gillmeister: cultural history of tennis. Wilhelm Fink Verlag, Munich 1990. ISBN 3-7705-2618-X , p. 259 ff.
• John Parsons et al .: The Tennis Book. Carlton Books, London 2010. ISBN 978-1-78097-012-7 , p. 41

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Frequently asked questions about the USTA. USTA, accessed February 5, 2013 .