MARYLAND AT A GLANCE

SPORTS

TENNIS

A popular sport in Maryland, tennis is played indoors and outside, in public parks, private clubs, and schools.

Maryland is one of four districts comprising the USTA Mid-Atlantic Foundation of the United States Tennis Association. With over 15,000 members in Maryland, the USTA Mid-Atlantic Foundation governs tennis throughout the State. It oversees various leagues; hosts adult, junior and senior tournaments; and provides grants to community tennis organizations to develop new programs, renovate tennis courts, and send players to national competitions.

Tennis player, Patterson Park, Baltimore, Maryland, September 2014. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

One of the top-rated training facilities within the USTA is the Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTCC), in College Park. Founded in 1999, the Center trains players from junior to professional levels, and hosts numerous USTA regional events. Over 75 national and international titles have been won by Center players. The women's University of Maryland Terps tennis team of the University of Maryland trains at the Center.

Among notable alumni of the Junior Tennis Champions Center is Maryland native Frances Tiafoe Jr., who was ranked 10th in the world (a career high) on June 19, 2023, by the Association of Tennis Professionals. When he was a teenager, Tiafoe won the 2015 U.S. Junior National Championship. In 2018, he won the Delray Beach Open, his first professional singles title. Tiafoe reached the semifinals of the 2022 U.S. Open, the first time to do so in a Grand Slam tournament. In 2023, he won the singles titles at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in Houston, Texas, and at the BOSS Open in Stuttgart, Germany. Tiafoe reached the U.S. Open semifinals again in 2024.

From 1986 to 2010, Baltimore hosted the Pam Shriver's Charity Tennis Challenge. Annually scheduled at 1st Mariner Arena sometime between September and December, the Challenge raised funds for local children's charities. Enthusiastic, standing-room-only crowds turned out to watch the best tennis players in the world. This tennis tradition ended in November 2010 with a Silver Ball tribute to Pam Shriver.

NATIONAL COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION (NCAA)

There are several Maryland tennis teams within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The NCAA divides college teams into three divisions, which are then organized by schools into conferences. The Washington College men's team won the NCAA's Division III Title in 1994.

Division I
Men's teams:

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference

Mount St. Mary's University

Mid-Atlantic Conference

Coppin State University

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference

Morgan State University

Patriot League

Loyola University Maryland

U. S. Naval Academy

Women's teams:

Big Ten Conference