Guide To Chicagoland Tennis
The Professional Tennis Scene in Chicagoland Professional Tennis in Chicago The story of professional tennis in Chicago took an exciting turn in recent years. For 20-plus years Chicago was an integral stop on the women’s WTA Virginia Slims Tour, as well as the ATP Tour on the men’s side. Pro tennis has been played in Chicago off and on at a variety of locations but 2020 marked the year that Chicago got a WTT franchise (for the second time). One year later, tennis fans were given the chance to see some of the current best women in the game, some legends, and some surprising newcomers. World Team Tennis (WTT) Chicago was one of the WTT league’s eight charter franchises in 1973; the Aces played their matches at Lakeshore Racquet Club in Chicago in the league’s inaugural 1974 season. The franchise was later rebranded as the Chicago Fyre in 1983. That year, league co-founder Billie Jean King led the franchise to its only league championship defeating the Los Angeles Strings. For many years, WTT’s main offices were headquartered in Chicago. Early in 2020, league organizers announced a new franchise team, the Chicago Smash. The Smash was scheduled to play its home matches at the Credit Union 1 Arena (former UIC Pavilion). But, due to the onset of the coronavirus, the league hosted all matches in a bubble scenario at The Greenbriar resort in West Virginia. The 2021 season was hosted by the Indian Wells Tennis Garden near Palm Springs, CA. At the time of this printing, no plans had been announced for the 2022 season.
The Chicago Smash celebrates during a 2021 match against the Orange County Breakers. (WTT Photo) 21
