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Quotes

  • The diversity we have here, I think that the foundations of tennis a lot of times comes from Florida, and Florida has so many public tennis courts and such a strong tennis community that I think it creates so many champions. If you’re not from Florida, you somehow made your way to Florida if you’re a competitive tennis player and I think that’s just what sets us apart. There’s competition here and there’s competition that wants to be here and great competition can create stronger and better players.” Coco Gauff, 2023 US Open Champion, Florida Native

  • “You’ve got the Orange Bowl and now the Eddie Herr, there’s so many things going on. Plus, with the weather you can play all year round. But more importantly, you drive 20 miles and can play someone from another country. So, it’s all about the competition, that’s why Florida is unique in every way. Plus, a lot of people, even on the pro tour, they have a second home in the state of Florida.” Rick Macci, USPTA Hall of Fame Member

  • “If you can train in Florida, you can train anywhere.” Kathy Rinaldi, Former Captain of the U.S. Billie Jean King Cup Team & USTA Florida Tennis Hall of Fame Member
  • “All my coaches have been Florida people. So for me, the coaches, the experiences, and the people that I met through tennis in Florida really made me the person I am today.” Jay Berger, Former ATP Pro & USTA Florida Tennis Hall of Fame Member
  • “Florida was a big part of my growth in those early years of my career. If you loved to play, you looked and saw where the sunshine was, and that’s where you played. So, Florida, Southern Cal, and Texas were the prime producers for junior tennis and players that were serious about it. We had a lot of players and many top national level players. The competition was incredible and back in those years when everybody played in their age group, there was no reason to travel because there were lots of players in your area. It was just a great place to grow up, especially in the tennis world.” Brian Gottfried, Former No. 3 Ranked ATP Pro & USTA Florida Tennis Hall of Fame Member
  • “I remember seeing people like Chris Everett, who was a hero coming up and doing her thing in Florida. But there’s also people my age like Mary Joe Fernandez, who was such a dominant force. It kind of showed us what was possible, and I would go to those [Florida] tournaments and you could see people like Jimmy Arias and Carly Bassett who were there on the verge of being professionals but they were 14 years old, beating up on the best 18 year olds in Florida and you could dream of what was possible because you could see it right in front of you.” Jim Courier, Four-time Grand Slam Champion & USTA Florida Tennis Hall of Fame Member
  • It’s the people, the passion of the sport that lives in Florida at every level, starting at the grassroots all the way to people I know that have played till they’re 100 years old. It’s that passion, being in sunny Florida, playing tennis, I love it.” Kathy Rinaldi, Former Captain of the U.S. Billie Jean King Cup Team & USTA Florida Tennis Hall of Fame Member
  • My favorite part about tennis in Florida is that it’s so accessible. You literally turn left, turn right, look in front and you can find tennis courts. It’s pretty easy if you’re willing to find a place to play. I know participation in tennis has been growing and growing, but in Florida, it’s always been high. That was the best part, knowing that it wasn’t a difficult task to find a place to play. My husband is from New York and I lived there after we got married for a couple of years, and it wasn’t so easy to find courts to play on. I was a little more challenging and I always think, ‘gosh, if I were to raise my kids in New York would have been a little tougher for them to play tennis.’” Mary Joe Fernandez, Two-time Grand Slam Champion & USTA Florida Tennis Hall of Famer Member 
  • You can play 12 months a year and you have so many pros that are living here. Reilly Opelka, Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe, and Taylor Fritz all have a place here… We’ve had so many great players come through Florida, both on the men’s and the women’s side, it really is a hotbed, and that really hasn’t changed.” Jay Berger, Former ATP Pro & USTA Florida Tennis Hall of Fame Member
  • “When I grew up in Florida, tennis was a burgeoning sport. A lot of people like my parents enjoyed playing. But we didn’t know that there were tournaments out there and we heard around the way through the Florida Tennis Association yearbook (now known as USTA Florida). It would have a list of tournaments on there with phone numbers and addresses and you would call, send in your check, and that’s how you would get into junior tournaments. There was no Internet for that stuff, but they had systems in place there on the front end of it.” Jim Courier, Four-time Grand Slam Champion & USTA Florida Tennis Hall of Fame Member

  • “The section of Florida is by far the best of any in the country, in terms of competition.” Mardy Fish, Olympic Silver Medalist, United States Davis Cup Captain, & USTA Florida Tennis Hall of Fame Member
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