Leading the Charge

Katrina Adams is not a big fan of video games that keep kids on the couch when they should be outside playing sports, especially tennis. But she admits, “As a kid, I used to love going to the arcade. I used to tell my parents I was working on my hand-eye coordination. It was probably just a way to get more quarters from them.”

These days, Adams’ life sometimes seems like a game of Candy Crush, a constant juggling act as she works to achieve her life’s goals, all of which, she says, include, “making a difference in someone else’s life.” This January, the 46-year-old Chicago native will be in a prime position to do just that as she takes the helm as the next USTA president.

Following a successful junior, collegiate and pro career—one in which she was a two-time All-American at Northwestern; won the NCAA doubles championship with partner Diane Donnelly; captured 20 WTA Tour doubles titles; and ranked a career-high of No. 67 in the world in singles and No. 8 in doubles—Adams retired from the game in 1999 and set out to make the sport better for others. For the past nine years, she has been executive director of the Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program in New York City, which serves more than 1,000 inner-city children each year. Not only are kids taught tennis on four indoor courts (as well as through school programs throughout the region), but they are tutored in school work and life skills.

“The HJTEP really is where my passion is,” says Adams, who has also traveled the world as a commentator for Tennis Channel since 2003. “When I was a kid, people reached out and gave me a chance.” Adams’ list of those who have helped her achieve success is long. It includes her parents, her coaches and mentors, such as Willis Thomas and Zina Garrison, and members and owners of clubs like the Midtown Athletic Club (which was owned by former USTA president Alan Schwartz), Hyde Park Tennis Club, and the Holiday Inn in Chicago. The members of the Chicago Prairie Tennis Club, the oldest black tennis club in the U.S., would raise money to allow her to travel to tournaments. “There were so many people who were instrumental in helping me get better,” Adams says. “They say it takes a village and the tennis community has been my village. That’s why I’ve always felt that I have a responsibility to give back. My parents raised me that way, to appreciate what I have and pass it along to others. At the HJTEP we’re not just a program, we’re a way of life.”

“I’m very proud of Katrina and what she has done,” says former New York City Mayor David N. Dinkins, a longtime tennis enthusiast and USTA board member who first met Adams in Chicago through Garrison and now thinks of her as a daughter. “She has a perspective and a real awareness of every aspect of the game. She’s been a college player, a pro, a commentator, a philanthropist and, through her work with the Harlem Junior Tennis program, she has served as a mentor not just in tennis but in helping kids become better people. I can’t think of a better person to become president of the USTA.”

Katrina Adams, with Venus and Serena Williams, at a renovation gala at the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center in Washington in November. (AP Photo)

Adams will become the fourth woman behind Judy Levering, International Tennis Hall of Famer Jane Brown Grimes and Lucy Garvin, to hold the USTA’s top leadership position. She will also become the first African-American president in the USTA’s 134-year history. The significance is not lost on her. “It’s a giant step in the sport,” says Adams, who has served on the USTA’s board of directors since 2005, on myriad committees within the organization, as well as the board of USTA Serves (the organization’s charity arm), the International Hall of Fame and the Grand Slam board. “To be the first [African American] says a lot on both the positive and negative sides. But I will carry the torch high and with pride. I know that a lot of people are going to be looking at me and that I will stand for something.”

“Katrina has a great understanding of where the game is today and that keeps her well-grounded,” says the USTA’s current president, David Haggerty. “She’s a good listener and she communicates well with people. Her greatest challenge will be having to say no to people sometimes, but she believes and understands that it’s best to focus on fewer things and do them well. I know she’ll do a terrific job.”

Adams’ greatest challenge will not only be growing the game at the grassroots level, but also shoring up American talent in the pro game. It is not lost on her that it has been more than a decade since an American man (Andy Roddick in 2003) has won the U.S. Open, nearly 15 years since Lindsay Davenport, Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati and Lisa Raymond captured the Fed Cup for the U.S. and eight years since Roddick, James Blake and Bob and Mike Bryan won the Davis Cup.

“Just because we don’t have American champions, everyone says we’re struggling,” says Adams. “We were so spoiled by the Agassi, Sampras, Courier, Chang era. We are a nation that is a land of excess, not opportunity, and because of that, there is a lack of motivation among our young people. In some cases it’s the parents who want it more than the kids do. I used to go to the courts for eight to 10 hours a day because I had such a passion. Now there are just too many other things pulling at kids.

“I think we have to re-imagine the sport,” adds Adams. She talks about keeping young adults—players who may have been competed in juniors, high school and college—still active in the game. Adams also wants to find ways to attract more seniors to tennis. “They are the backbone of our organization,” she says. “Maybe we introduce the 60-foot court and softer balls for our players in the 70, 80 and 90 age brackets. We have the courts and the balls. Why not re-engage people who love the game and are still mobile but may just not be able to cover the court the way they once did?”

“We need to promote the game as a whole,” Adams says, the excitement rising in her voice. “When Serena and Venus are gone, we may not have that American face and we may never get back on top of the world. But it shouldn’t stop us from promoting the health and well-being of the game. And that’s what I’m all about.”