USTA Florida

A weekend of champions! 🎾🏆 The Adult 40 & Over Men's and Women's Sectional Championships took over the USTA National Campus, and the energy never let up. Competitors fought through close battles and showed off impressive consistency in every single matchup. 🔥

Three divisions took the court, Women's 4.0, Men's 3.5, and Men's 4.5, and every team left it all out there. Congratulations to this year's champions:

🥇 Women's 4.0: Duval/Lansang, defeating Orange/Myers 3-2
🥇 Men's 3.5: Miami/Sengupta, defeating Orange/Phan 4-1
🥇 Men's 4.5: Miami/Cabane, defeating Duval/Grant 4-1

A huge shoutout to every player, captain, and team who competed this weekend. This is what Florida tennis is all about! 🙌💙

To read the full recap for all the results and to see an album of pictures from the finals tap here 👇:
https://ow.ly/Sn4Z50ZqJMv

Team Florida made us proud on the national stage! 🎾🥇 Four of our tennis athletes brought home SIX medals from the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games in Minneapolis, including two gold and four silver, after a week of competition at the University of Minnesota's Baseline Tennis Center. 🌴✨

Join us in celebrating Team Florida's medalists:
🏆 Kiera Phoebus (Orlando) — Gold, Level 6 Singles
🏆 Lizanne Viplav (Lake City) — Gold, Level 4 Singles
🏆 Alexander Polodna (Oviedo) — Silver, Level 5 Singles
🏆 Garrett Lanier (St. Cloud) — Silver, Level 5 Singles
🥈 Lanier & Phoebus — Silver, Level 6 Open Doubles

This is exactly what tennis for all is about, and we couldn't be prouder to see these athletes represent their state, their communities, and our sport with pride. ❤️🎾
Read the full recap of their unforgettable week 👇:

https://ow.ly/GR6g50ZoY4j

Every great tennis journey starts with a first swing! 🎾💚 Crandon Park Tennis Center just wrapped up its very first round of Love To programs, USTA Florida's friendly on-ramp to the game built to help players pick up a racquet, find their footing, and fall in love with tennis. 🌴✨

Love To Learn welcomes adult beginners with fun, low-pressure drills and games while pro coaches teach the fundamentals, from grips and strokes to keeping score. Love To Play takes it a step further with mentored match play for those ready to put their skills into action. 🙌

A huge congratulations to our very first graduates who completed the six-week programs! 🏆
🎾 Love To Learn: Stefan Avram, Thabata Zago & Natalia Zviagina
🎾 Love To Play: Elsa Corbett, Jackie Cush, Johan Reyes & Sebastian Loor

This is exactly how we grow the game and keep tennis open for everyone. 💪✨ Ready to pick up a racquet? Read more and find a Love To session near you 👇:

https://ow.ly/mw4950ZonTB

Champions crowned! 🎾🏆 Our Adult 40 & Over Women's Sectional Championships lit up the USTA National Campus, with players battling through close matches and showing off sharp, consistent play all weekend long. 🔥

Three divisions took the court, 2.5, 3.0, and 4.5, and every team brought their absolute best. Congratulations to this year's champions:
🥇 2.5 Division: Broward County (Cliff Drysdale Tennis @ Weston Tennis Center), defeating Polk County 2-1
🥇 3.0 Division: Broward/Contreras (Frank Veltri Tennis Center), defeating Miami/Forman 3-2
🥇 4.5 Division: Duval/Kochis (The Oak Bridge Tennis Center), defeating Orange-Dionne 3-2

A huge shoutout to every player, captain, and team who competed. This is what Florida tennis is all about! 🙌💙
Read the full recap for all the results, plus a shared album with every photo from the event 👇:
https://ow.ly/7Mw450Znlc8

Nominations for the 2026 USTA Florida Section Awards are officially OPEN! 🎾💙

Tennis in Florida runs on dedication. It lives in the volunteers who give their weekends, the coaches who build confidence one practice at a time, and the public courts where so many players pick up a racquet for the very first time. These awards are our way of saying thank you to the people and places that make the game stronger, more welcoming, and more accessible for everyone. 🙌

This year we're recognizing excellence across three awards:
⭐ USTA Florida Excellence in Service Award, one of the section's highest honors, recognizing a volunteer whose leadership, generosity, and love for tennis have left a lasting mark.

🏞️ USTA Florida Public Parks Award, honoring a public parks facility, program, director, or volunteer who has made tennis more welcoming, affordable, and alive in their community.

🎾 USTA Florida Community Coach of the Year Award, honoring a coach, paid or volunteer, who builds confidence along with skill and makes every player feel they belong on the court.

Here's how it works:
🗓️ Applications are open and run until August 13, 2026
🏆 Winners honored at the 2026 Florida Tennis Summit, November 13 to 15

Know someone who deserves to be celebrated? Nominations are open to USTA Florida staff, volunteers, committee members, and community partners, and you can nominate someone in more than one category if they fit! Take a few minutes to tell us their story! ✨

Nominate someone today 👇: https://ow.ly/iH1N50ZmabY

With the 2026 Spring USTA Florida JTT State Championship right around the corner, we wanted to take a minute to celebrate what makes Junior Team Tennis so special. 🎾🌴

Tennis is often an individual sport, but Junior Team Tennis flips that script. It brings kids ages 6 to 18 together on teams of similar age and skill to compete, cheer each other on, and grow the game side by side. Nearly 100,000 kids across the country play JTT every year, building the skills, sportsmanship, and friendships that keep them coming back to the court for life. 🙌

That team-first spirit is exactly what USTA Florida has stood for since 1949: making tennis fun, welcoming, and open for all. 💙

Now those teams are heading to Lakeland to battle for a state title, and there's still time to be part of it!
🗓️ July 18 to 19, 2026
📍 Lakeland Tennis Courts, Lakeland, FL
⏰ Registration closes July 13

Register here 👇: https://ow.ly/s4lv50ZlzoI

At the 2026 Bobby Curtis Junior State Championships, held June 5 through 16, these players and families earned one of the most meaningful honors in the game: recognition for their character on and off the court. 🙌

Sportsmanship is easy to overlook and impossible to fake. Junior tennis asks young players to call their own lines, manage their own nerves, and handle every win and loss without a coach on the court beside them. How they treat an opponent, respect an official's call, and carry themselves after a tough match reveals who they really are. ✨

That's the kind of tennis community we're building in Florida. So congratulations to every honoree. You're proof that good sportsmanship is contagious, and it's exactly what keeps this game open for all. 💙🎾 Read the full list of honoree's with the link below 👇
https://ow.ly/K9Zr50ZlyvY

Big news for Lakeland tennis! 🎾🌴 Florida Southern College has been awarded a $31,000 USTA Tennis Venue Services Grant to resurface all 10 courts at the Wynee Warden Tennis Center! 🏆

These upgraded courts will keep Florida Southern serving its student-athletes at the highest level of the college game, while also supporting a full slate of community events and national collegiate competitions. 🙌

"We are super excited to have received this grant from the USTA. This will assist our programs in resurfacing our tennis courts and ensure we remain one of the premier Division II facilities in the country." — Trish Riddell, Head Women's Tennis Coach, Florida Southern College 💙

Since 2005, the USTA's TVS program has awarded more than $34 million in grants, proof that smart investment in facilities keeps the game growing and open for all. ✨
Read the full story here 👇

https://ow.ly/fOQx50ZlhTW

Photo Credit: Florida Southern College

Our inaugural Summer Camp at Crandon Park Tennis Center is up and running, and there's still time to sign your kid up! ☀️🎾 Whether they're picking up a racquet for the very first time or looking for more court time this summer, our coaches have them covered on the fundamentals while keeping the game fun every single day. 🙌

Here's what to know:
🗓️ Camp runs through July 31
👟 Register for as many dates as you'd like
🎾 All skill levels welcome, first-timers included
Sign up for Summer Camp here 👇: https://ow.ly/wuQA50ZkIYL

There's even more happening at Crandon this summer, from Love to Learn to Summer USTA Leagues. Catch the full "Around the Courts" update here 👇:
https://ow.ly/jZ7K50ZkIYM

Miami-Dade County Government Miami-Dade Parks

Seven community organizations hosted celebrations powered by USTA Florida's Juneteenth Tennis Event Grants through our AMPLIFY initiative, and together they brought hundreds of players, families, and neighbors to the courts. 🙌

Leading the way was the MaliVai Washington Youth Foundation in Jacksonville, welcoming a massive 218 people to its celebration! 🏆 Big turnouts also came from Fitness, Finance, & Fellowship, The Venom Foundation, Dennis Tennis, Wes Crile Park's J19 Tournament, Bern's Angels, Inc., and One Love Tennis. 💙 Our managed facility PlayTennisGainesville joined the fun too, with a junior tournament plus a community picnic full of food, games, and good company. 🎾✨

Every one of these events is proof of something we believe deeply: tennis is at its best when it's open for all. Thank you to the organizations and volunteers who made them happen! 👏
Read the full story here 👇:
https://ow.ly/KKxk50ZjnTx