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.

Kamau Murray coaches the Chicago Smash during a 2021 match against the New York Empire. (WTT Photo) Chicago tennis fans certainly hope to see this fun format return to Chicago as it is a far cry from usual restrained tennis viewing. It features NBA-style introductions, music between points, coaching, and on-court team celebrations. XS hosted a special WTT match in 2018 between the Philadelphia Freedom and the Washington Kastles featuring 2017 U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens and Chicago native Taylor Townsend.

The Women Come to XS Tennis Village In August of 2021, the WTA returned to the Chicago area for the $125,000 Chicago Tennis Festival tournament, won by Clara Tauson of Denmark against Britain’s Emma Raducanu. Just a few short weeks later, Raducanu, would become the youngest player to win a Grand Slam singles tournament since 2004 when she won the U.S. Open.

The August tournament was the first of three WTA events hosted by XS Tennis Village on the south side of Chicago. In the second tournament, Elina Svitolina defeated Alize Cornet in the inaugural Chicago Women’s Open. Included in the field for the Women’s Open event was former world No. 1 Venus Williams who played to a capacity crowd. Later in September, the Fall Tennis Classic, the Chicago Festival event with the greatest prize money, attracted more big-name players in former world No. 1 Kim Clijsters, then world No. 2 Aryna Sabelenka, and former U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu. The Fall Tennis Classic was won by Ons Jabeur who defeated Garbine Muguruza in the finals. At the time this guide went to print, neither the WTA nor XS Tennis had announced plans for the 2022 Chicago Tennis Festival.

Past Highlights Going back to the roots of Chicago professional tennis, in 1927, the U.S. Pro Championships were held at various sites before finding a permanent home in Massachusetts in 1964 until the tournament ended in 1999. The South Shore Tennis Club and the Chicago Town and Tennis Club each hosted the tournament twice from 1932 to 1941.

Much of the professional men’s tennis played in the Chicago area in the last 50 years occurred at the (then) UIC Pavilion which was home to the Chicago Grand Prix, a professional tournament played from 1985 to 1987. The initial event in 1985 was the highlight of the three-year run. In that tournament, John McEnroe defeated Jimmy Connors in, as one would expect, a spirited match. Boris Becker in 1986 and Tim Mayotte in 1987. The Pavilion would later host the PowerShares Series, a collection of tournaments featuring the greatest names in tennis over the age of 30 that brought John McEnroe and others back to Chicago.

Bill Tilden, at the opening of the U.S. Pro Tennis Championship Tournament at the South Shore Country Club, Chicago. July 28, 1932. (Age Fotostock Photo/ Everett Collection)

Intermittently since 1984, Chicagoans have been able to watch up-and-coming men’s players at the Nielsen Pro Tennis Championship in Winnetka at the A. C. Nielsen Tennis Center. The event was part of the ATP Challenger Tour. Players who succeed on the Challenger Tour earn sufficient ranking points to become eligible for main draw or qualifying draw entry at ATP Tour tournaments.

Quite possibly the Chicago tennis event of a lifetime occurred in 2018 when the Laver Cup came to Chicago. Created to honor the career of two-time Grand Slam champion Rod Laver, the event pits Team Europe against Team World. Team Europe was led by Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic who were joined by teammates Alexander Zverev, Grigor Dimitrov, David Goffin and Kyle Edmund. Team Europe was captained by Swedish legend Bjorn Borg. New Yorker John McEnroe captained Team World leading Kevin Anderson, John Isner, Diego Schwartzman, Frances Tiafoe, Jack Sock, and Nick Kyrgios into battle. The competition was on indoor courts at the United Center. Team Europe defeated Team World 13–8.

Austin Krajicek in action during the Nielsen Pro Tennis Championship in 2017. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Icon Sportswire) (Icon Sportswire via AP Images)