Net gain KATRINA ADAMS A GAME-CHANGER FOR USTA BY COLLEEN WILSON PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN RIZZO

Katrina M. Adams hits the court at Life Time Athletic in Harrison. WAGMAG.COM AUGUST 2015 53 he United States Tennis Association — whose marquee event, the US Open, kicks o Aug. 31 — has been undergo- ing something of a transformation of late. There’s an 11-year deal with ESPN, set to begin its second year; and new construction of two courts at the Bil- lie Jean King National Tennis Center and a retractable roof on its Arthur Ashe Stadium, to be completed next year. There’s also a new face — USTA Chairman of the Board, CEO and President Katrina M. Adams. Six months into her tenure at the helm of the Harrison-based organiza- tion, she is no stranger to USTA or the sport it serves. Known for grace and power on the court — once ranked No. 67 in singles and as high as No. 8 in women’s dou- bles — Adams is the  rst former professional player, and the  rst African-American, to take on the role. She has also been a member of the USTA board of directors for 10 years, including a two-year stint as  rst vice president. Her grace and power were very much in evidence during a wide-ranging conversation with WAG in the Tennis Lounge of neighboring Life Time Athletic that she clearly relished. “I’m enjoying this,” she says at one point. A product of Chicago and the daughter of educators, Adams is as  ercely interested in the inner game as she is in the outer one. “I think the game has really gotten away from the morals of the sport,” she says. “It really starts at the top with the coaches and the parents.” And the USTA, she adds, has the responsibility of setting the rules for how the participants conduct

54 WAGMAG.COM AUGUST 2015 WAGMAG.COM AUGUST 2015 55 themselves at its tournaments. sport to more diverse communities within the His- white television,” she says. “It was like, ‘Wow, you Increased sportsmanship is one of the three panic culture, to embrace them and include them can do this on TV.’” initiatives she plans to implement during her two- in the process of learning how to play tennis.” After retiring from the Women’s Tennis Associa- year stint. It’s really no surprise that she is taking a grass- tion tour in 1999 with 20 doubles titles, Adams be- Another is outreach to the 400,000 high school roots approach, because that was her introduction gan her career with the USTA as a national coach tennis players around the country, whom she’d like to the sport. for the top junior players. to keep in the game beyond the eight-week school At age 6, she tagged along with her older broth- “I didn’t really grab a hold of the true meaning of season. Adams said she wants to “make sure that ers to a summer program four blocks from their the organization until I was actually on a commit- we have opportunities for them to be competitive house on Chicago’s West Side while their parents tee,” she says. “It’s about going into our communi- recreationally” in what she called “the sport of a taught summer school. ties and getting people involved in the sport.” lifetime.” “It wasn’t really your normal tennis program,” It’s a mission that takes her beyond her volun- While there are those who would like to see a she says of the Boys Club o ering in the summer teer job with the USTA. She’s the executive director star or two emerge from today’s juniors — know- of 1975. After a few weeks of watching her brothers of the Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Pro- ing that would increase the American audience play, Adams, too young to participate in the 9-and- gram, a co-host of CBS Sports Network’s all-female — Adams counters: “You can’t create a champion. up program, persuaded the coaches to let her play. “We Need to Talk” and a contributor to Tennis A champion comes from within. You can teach all “I loved it from the  rst moment I struck a tennis magazine and its website, tennis.com. the tools necessary to be a champion, but to be a ball,” she says. And when she’s not playing tennis? “I’m playing true champion, it comes from within because you Her brothers never played after the end of that golf.” Though not as much as she would like. have to have a certain level of grit, steel, passion to summer, but she was a natural. “I haven’t done a lot of things that I would have go that extra mile.” And what sealed the deal was that same sum- liked to as of late,” she says. “But it’s good. I mean Her  rst priority, however, is involving the His- mer she watched Arthur Ashe become the  rst that time will come for me to really be able to get panic community in the game. African-American man to win Wimbledon as he back to me, but right now I have the time and the “It’s the fastest-growing demographic in Amer- defeated Jimmy Connors. passion to give to everyone else.” ica, and it’s the smallest group that we actually “I had just started playing and a couple weeks The US Open runs Aug. 31 through Sept. 13. serve,” she says. “My main goal is to introduce the later I see this black guy on a 12-inch black-and- For more, visit usopen.org.

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