If Todd Martin could spend an afternoon with one historical figure in tennis, it would likely be the great Australian Lew Hoad, regarded as an exemplary coach and outstanding tactician of the game. Sometimes overshadowed by his
countrymen, including two-time Grand Slam champion Rod Laver, eight-time major winner and four-time Wimbledon runner-up Ken Rosewall, and fellow Hall of Famers Roy Emerson and Fred Stolle, Hoad was ranked No. 1 in the world in 1956. That year, he won the Australian, French and Wimbledon titles and just missed capturing a Grand Slam when he lost in the final of the US Nationals to Rosewall.
Martin learned about Hoad from his longtime mentor Jose Higueras, who was a Hoad protégé. “I was familiar with [Hoad’s] name, but the way Jose speaks of him, with such admiration and respect, I just know that he was someone I would admire as well,” says Martin, a former world No. 4 who was a finalist at the 1999 US Open and the 1994 Australian Open.
Martin has been mindful of tennis history ever since his playing days, first as an All-American at Northwestern and then as a 14-year pro on the ATP Tour, eight of which he served as president of the ATP Players’ Council.
Sometimes treated as an elder statesman, even in his youth, Martin was the type of player who commanded respect from his peers simply for his professionalism and the way he carried himself, both on court and off. Now, however, some 10 years after he retired as a player, Martin finds himself as the ultimate steward of the game’s history as the new CEO of the International Tennis Hall of Fame and Museum in Newport, RI. Martin officially took over in September from Mark Stenning, who stepped down following a 35-year career with the Hall of Fame, though he will continue to serve as a consultant and remain on the board of directors.
“Todd is respected by the entire tennis community all over the world,” says Chris Clouser, a former CEO of the ATP and now chairman of the Hall of Fame’s board of directors. Clouser had asked Martin for his recommendations for a successor to Stenning and then reapproached him and implored him to consider applying for the job himself. “When he was president of the ATP Players’ Council, he dealt with that very diverse body with great class and vision. He always put himself in other people’s shoes.”
“Todd is not only thoughtful as a person, but he is a great student of the game,” says Hall of Fame president Stan Smith, a former US Open and Wimbledon champion. “He’s not a used-car salesman. When Todd speaks, people tend to listen to what he says. And he’s worth listening to.”
As a player, Martin will long be remembered for his run to the 1999 US Open final, during which he came back from two sets down to defeat Greg Rusedski in the round of 16 before ultimately losing to Andre Agassi. The following year, at age 30, he played one of the greatest matches of the tournament in beating Spaniard Carlos Moya in a four-hour and 15-minute thriller that didn’t end until after 1 a.m.
Now, Martin takes over the Hall of Fame, which sits on the site of the first US National Championships in 1881, at one of the most important times in its 60-year history. The Hall is in the midst of a $15.7-million capital campaign designed to create a more modern, technology-filled interactive museum; add additional indoor and outdoor courts, fitness facilities and retail space; expand the footprint of the Newport Casino; and improve the stadium seating for the Hall of Fame Championships, the ATP’s only grass-court tournament in the U.S., held each July.
“This is a good fit for all my passions,” says Martin, who has also served on the board of directors of the USTA since 2011. “Tradition is important to me. I was not always a lover of history growing up, but I was taught to honor and respect it at every turn.”
Martin says that his time with the USTA will help him tackle the challenges at the Hall of Fame. “The USTA was really impactful for me,” he says. “It was so different from the ATP in that I was no longer sitting in a room with nine other players deciding whether we should have non-manufacturer’s logos on the chest of our clothing. The USTA is not as global as the ATP, but it affects the course of the sport from the grassroots to the pinnacle of the US Open. I learned a great deal from the business leaders in the room.
“Now I’ve gone from swimming in the shallow end to diving into the deep end,” Martin adds. “I’m learning that being a board member is easy because you can sit back and say, ‘Somebody should do that.’ The difference is, now I’m that somebody.”
One of the big challenges for Martin and the Hall of Fame board members is to make the Hall relevant to international players and fans, many of whom had never been to Newport until the day they are given the game’s greatest honor. More than 95 percent of the funding for the renovations has come from the United States.
“I don’t know if getting Rafa [Nadal] to Newport is a litmus test of whether we are an international success,” says Martin, whose favorite exhibit is the one belonging to Hall of Famer Arthur Ashe, which includes the legendary champion’s trophies and personal photographs taken by his wife, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, as well as a passport recognizing Ashe as a member of the U.S. Davis Cup team. “But I do think it’s important for an International Hall of Fame to be able to give people a digital experience so that someone in Uzbekistan doesn’t have to travel Newport to see what’s housed here.
“Instead of just preserving history,” Martin says, “it’s our job to promote it.”