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Junior Sectionals in Southern California used to matter. It was a tournament kids aspired to play and families planned around. Today, it feels like an afterthought—buried at the Lakewood Tennis Center and scheduled in a way that actively discourages participation. Sectionals are now played in the middle of the school week in early June. That’s not a quiet time for students—it’s finals, graduations, and end-of-year obligations. Asking families to miss multiple school days f

Tennis participation in the United States is rising. Courts are fuller. Families are returning. All of this is welcome news. But the USTA’s impulse to treat this moment as proof of successful governance is misplaced. The sport is growing largely because of broader cultural forces—post-pandemic demand for outdoor activity, increased focus on fitness, and grassroots enthusiasm—not because institutional strategies suddenly started working. Tennis leadership did not create th

When the United States Tennis Association restructured mixed doubles at the US Open, it was framed as a modernizing tweak—a way to boost visibility, attract fans, and better showcase the sport. In reality, the change revealed something far more consequential: tennis no longer believes it can sustain a broad professional class. Instead, it has chosen to double down on star power—and, in doing so, quietly admitted that everyone else no longer fits the business model. What Chan

While much of the attention in tennis is focused on juniors and elite pathways, one part of the sport is quietly thriving across Southern California: adult league tennis. Courts are busy on weeknights. Weekend matches are full. Teams return season after season. And unlike many other segments of the sport, adult leagues are growing for a simple reason—they work for real people. Affordable by Design Adult league tennis is one of the most cost-effective ways to play organized sp

College tennis in the United States has a survival problem, and it is no longer subtle. American players—especially boys—are being squeezed out of their own development pipeline. Junior participation is eroding, and the institutions responsible for college athletics have allowed structural distortions to compound unchecked. At the center of the problem is the National Collegiate Athletic Association. In tennis, the damage has been magnified by the inaction—and at times enco

Public tennis courts were built to be shared community spaces. In much of Southern California, however, they are increasingly being used as revenue platforms—controlled during the week by elite academies and on the weekends by tournament directors who often run those same academies. The effect is a two-step squeeze that prices the public out of public tennis. On weekdays, prime after-school and early-evening hours at park courts are routinely locked up by elite junior academi

Southern California has one of the deepest junior tennis pools in the country. The climate is ideal, the court inventory is massive, and the level of play—especially at the top—is strong. And yet junior tennis here is increasingly distorted by an unhealthy obsession with points and rankings. For many players and parents, tournaments are chosen not for the quality of competition but for the number of points on offer. Families travel hours—or fly out of state—for marginal ranki

College tennis likes to present itself as healthy. The level of play is high. Lineups are deep. Results are competitive. But that surface success hides a system that increasingly fails American players—and quietly frustrates the people inside it. This is not an accident. It is the result of choices. A Closed Door for American Players Men’s Division I college tennis is now dominated by international players. Roughly 60–65% of D-I men’s rosters are foreign, with many top pr