International Tennis Hall of Fame
International Tennis Hall of Fame
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International Tennis Hall of Fame

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International Tennis Hall of Fame

The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, 13 grass tennis courts, an indoor tennis facility with three courts, three outdoor hard courts, one green clay court, a court tennis facility, and a theatre. The International Tennis Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization with the goal of preserving, celebrating, and inspiring the sport of tennis around the world.

The location was the original home of the U.S. National Championships (now called the US Open), established in 1881. Since 1976, the complex has hosted the Hall of Fame Open, a combined men's and women's event, each year in July.

The hall of fame and museum are located in the Newport Casino, which was commissioned in 1879 by James Gordon Bennett Jr. as part of an exclusive resort for wealthy Newport summer residents. It was designed by Charles McKim along with Stanford White, who did the interiors. It is an example of Victorian Shingle Style architecture. In 1881, the Real Tennis Court (housing the National Tennis Club) and the Casino Theatre were constructed at the east end of the campus. The club was opened on July 1, 1880, after a six-month construction period and quickly became a fashionable venue for Newport summer residents.

The United States Lawn Tennis Association held its first championships at the Newport Casino in 1881. The event was held annually through 1914, by which time tennis had become the key attraction at the resort. The championship was suspended during World War I.

But by the 1950s, the retreat was struggling financially, as tourism preferences changed. It was at risk of being demolished for redevelopment of modern retail space, but the building was purchased and saved by Jimmy and Candy Van Alen, wealthy Newport summer residents. A sportsman himself, in 1954, Jimmy Van Alen established the National Tennis Hall of Fame and Museum in the Casino. The combination of tennis matches and the museum allowed the building to be saved.

Van Alen intended the facility to be "a shrine to the ideals of the game", and was elected president of the hall in 1957. The International Tennis Hall of Fame was officially sanctioned by the United States Tennis Association at its foundation in 1954. In 1975, with the induction of England's Fred Perry, the organization officially became the International Tennis Hall of Fame. It was recognized by the International Tennis Federation in 1986. The first Hall of Fame members were inducted in 1955; as of 2023, a total of 262 inductees from 27 countries have been recognized.

In 2015, Martina Hingis was appointed as the first Global Ambassador for the International Tennis Hall of Fame. In 2016, Guga Kuerten was appointed a Global Ambassador, and in 2017 Michael Chang was appointed a Global Ambassador.

The current Board of Governors includes former professional tennis players Kim Clijsters (Honorary President), Patrick McEnroe (President), Gigi Fernández, Katrina Adams, and Vijay Amritraj.

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