USTA National Campus

A couple of miles to the north, a freshly paved road leads to the USTA National Campus, a 64-acre, 100-court facility that sparkles like newly-whitened teeth and is the culmination of a four-year project to merge American tennis at all levels.

“This place really is the future of tennis, not just American tennis,” says Kurt Kamperman, the USTA’s chief executive for community tennis and the USTA National Campus.

Thirty-two Har-Tru green clay courts are housed within the Team USA/Tournament Headquarters/League area, while six indoor Rebound Ace courts are available in order to ensure that no day goes without tennis.

Those players are invited by the USTA to come down to Lake Nona and train during designated camp weeks throughout the year.

“While this is the home of American tennis, we are not a tennis academy,” adds USTA president Katrina Adams.

And while the USTA would be open to discussing the future of the Miami Open, should it need to relocate from Key Biscayne, it has no intention of uprooting either the USTA National Championships from Kalamazoo and San Diego, or the US Open from Flushing Meadows.

While the USTA seeks to develop players at all levels, leadership is acutely aware that success at the top of the pro ranks can motivate future generations.

1 Jim Courier and USTA coach Jose Higueras stopped by the National Campus to do a lunchtime Q&A session with younger players.

Madison Keys rehabbed at Lake Nona following year-end wrist surgery, and within the same week, hundreds of public parks players were flooding the facility’s courts.

For Adams, it would be a dream come true if the USTA National Campus was responsible, in some way, for consistently producing Top 10 players on the ATP and WTA tours.