Tennis News Now

Chris Evert remembers her first trip to Fort Lauderdale’s Holiday Park. She recalls her father, Jimmy, picking her up from school that day, ending her fun routine of going to classmate Kara Bennett’s home for daily swimming and barbecuing. “I was really upset at my dad,’’ she says. She was 5 and the anger lifted. She began hitting tennis balls at Holiday Park. “That place changed my life,’’ the tennis legend, now 70, says. Holiday Park could be a shrine for what it has meant to Fort Lauderdale and international tennis, but it’s something better than that today. The park’s tennis center has reopened. It underwent a yearlong, $9.5 million renovation of the Jimmy Evert Tennis Center to upgrade the 20-court venue, build a 700-seat stadium named for Chris Evert and reopen in time for the annual junior Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships this weekend. There is a ceremony Monday. It’s a public court, too, meaning anyone can play on Court 10, which was Jimmy Evert’s offi...

The Westmont Hilltop boys tennis team took a businesslike approach into Wednesday’s District 6 Class 2A team championship match against Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference and city rival Bishop McCort Catholic. Strong singles play and effective chemistry displayed in doubles allowed the top-seeded and host Hilltoppers to defeat the second-seeded Crimson Crushers 5-0 for a third consecutive district team title. “It feels great to have three in a row,” Westmont Hilltop senior Easton Ragno said. “It could have been almost four my freshman year. It’s been fun for our high school years of tennis and I’ll always remember it.” Westmont Hilltop (13-2) also beat Bishop McCort (7-9) 5-0 and 3-2 earlier this season. The Hilltoppers will play District 5 champion Somerset Tuesday in Altoona during the first round of the PIAA tournament. The winner advances to the quarterfinals in Hershey May 16. “It defines the hard work that these guys have put in all year,” Westmont Hilltop coach Dan Fregly said...

Apr. 9—SEATTLE — Eastern Washington women's tennis fell on the road against non-conference opponent Seattle Redhawks 6-1. "I'm definitely happy with the win Olivia [Marais] had at the five in singles. I thought she played her game and used her strengths. She showed excellent fight and I'm super happy for her to get that win," head coach Dustin Hinson said in a release from Eastern Washington Athletics. "The overall takeaway message from today is to learn from and build off of the match. All the girls on the team are definitely on board with that idea. This is one [match] that we have to learn from and be prepared for next weekend, as we have two big conference matches at home. Today, I want the team to learn and build on our game, so we are ready to go and fight next weekend," he said. Freshman Olivia Marais battled aggressively to win at No. 5 singles, defeating Larissa Teramura in a contested 7-5 first set. Marais then closed out Teramura in the second...