Revamped ITHF Induction Celebration retooled with a con-like atmosphere for tennis fans
Serena Williams’ cameo during the International Tennis Hall of Fame Induction (ITHF) ceremony may have had the lion’s share of attention (for good reason! Amazing!!), but there were a few other events that were major standouts this year.
The Induction Celebration kicked off with the Tennis Wave event on Thursday that transported a temporary tennis court right in the middle of Bowen’s Wharf! It was such a cool sight and brought together all kinds of passionate fans of the sport. Even better? Tennis legends Tracy Austin and 2025 inductees Bob and Mike Bryan showed up to play tennis with kids and sat down for Q & A’s. It was a tennis fan’s dream.
Presented by 11th Hour Racing, the giant tennis apparatus made for an incredible visual. Everyone I spoke to had a fantastic time and I heard several say they hope this becomes an annual tradition. When the ITHF had to retool the Induction ceremony, this is exactly the kind of thinking-outside-the-box example that I can get behind. It was fun, engaging and super cool.
Inviting kids from the Be Legendary program, tennis youth from all over the world got to participate in a round robin with Austin and the Bryan brothers. The Bryans also teamed up with the kids in a doubles match at the end of the clinic. Each of them also stayed behind to take photos with the kids and fans and sign autographs. It was basically a love letter to tennis fans and clearly a thrill for the kids.
Additionally, Austin and the Bryan twins sat down in separate discussions on the Tennis Wave court where the kids got to ask them questions, which was moderated by Tennis Channel’s Brett Haber. Here are some of the memorable anecdotes from those sessions.
(Photo Credit: Veronica Bruno/What’sUpNewp)
Tracy Austin
She talked about the meaningfulness of being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1992, when she was only 29, the youngest inductee.
“When you come back here, it’s almost like a cherry on top. It’s that final chapter where they’re saying you had a pretty good career. And this is voted on by so many important people, and it just feels good. I don’t think you start playing tennis to get into the Hall of Fame, but then when you come on that weekend, it’s just emotional. I cried.”
She called ITHF the “Wimbledon of the United States. The history of the Hall of Fame, the same course where you had legendary players all the way back. The horseshoe court is so beautiful.”
She also imparted advice to the Be Legendary kids.
“The possibilities are endless for you if you put in the discipline and if you put in the work,” she said to the young players. “the last thing I want to say is just give 100 percent of what you have that day. There’s many days where you don’t study as much as you can on a test. Maybe you only got 60 percent of what you think you should have studied. Just give 100 percent of what you got that day in school, in life, in tennis and all of this is going to make you a better person. So good luck. The world is your oyster.”
Bryan brothers
They talked to the kids about coming back to win after losing four grand slams in a row.
“We coined it the anti-slam. So that was a pressure-packed match. We didn’t want to go down into the history books for the wrong reasons,” said Mike Bryan. “Basically our coach gave us a pep talk before the match. And he said, ‘You guys are playing safe all the other matches. You got to cut it, play free,’ and we went out there and played the best match of our career. We won 6-1, 6-4 in under an hour.”
They humbly talked about the joys of building music together, but joked that they got ahead of themselves with album producing. Bob said they printed 10,000 CD’s and sold “maybe” 10.
“But the T shirts were worse because we printed like, 20,000 t-shirts. They’re in a huge warehouse in Atlanta somewhere, taking up space,” Bob added, laughing.
However, there was a saving grace, with Bob saying that they recorded a song with Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, called “Autograph.”
“I was a ball kid one time, and I got an autograph on the changeover, and I got kicked right out of that tournament,” Bob added, saying it hadn’t been worth it, but he penned a song about it.
Mike said that he and Bob had 100 percent appreciation for their parents now that they have kids. He talked about working with his own kids in tennis. “It’s not easy. My parents made it fun. They created this whole world where we just had a good time.”
Bob chimed in: “It was very conservative the way we were raised. No TV in the house, which is pretty strict since everyone was playing Nintendo. But you know, we had it good. They loved us. They took us to every tournament, and we drove down there together.”
Podcasts during Induction weekend
Another perk for tennis fans was the recording of several podcasts right on sight! On Friday, ITHF President Patrick McEnroe recorded his “TennisWorthy” podcast with Chris Evert at Family Fest. Evert talked about the Bryan brothers and Maria Sharapova being inducted.
Evert admired that the Bryan twin siblings achieved everything together, which she joked was very different than her own relationship with her sister on the court.
“They are the GOAT, and I think to do it as identical twins makes it even more special,” she said about the Bryans. “I played doubles with my younger sister, and, you know, I was borderline abusive,” she said, laughing. “I’m such a singles player, but doubles, when things weren’t in my control, I got really flustered. So about them, they really complement each other.”
About Maria: “She inspired a lot of young women and girls to play the game of tennis because she made it okay to be beautiful and elegant out there, but to still be strong and a killer, and competitive. And she was giving a message for women to empower them.”
Before the Induction Ceremony Andy Roddick taped his “Served” podcast right on Horseshoe Court. He also reminisced about the 2007 reunion of the U.S. Davis Cup team that included James Blake and the Bryan brothers during the first-ever Celebrity Classic on Stadium Court.
“As it normally happened, the Brians beat the crap out of us,” Roddick said, laughing, but adding, “it was special for a lot of reasons. One, there’s a brotherhood that will never be broken, ever. I will do anything for those guys, for the rest of our lives.”
He talked about the enormity of the Tennis hall of Fame.
“I saw Yuri, Maria’s dad, yesterday, and he went and just gave Kim Clijsters the biggest bear hug ever to where at the end, they’re both crying. Those are the moments where you realize this game is so much bigger than the Hall of Fame.
“And I will say one more thing about just the world of tennis, we have the most responsible champions in any sport ever. If you look at the people who have been given this platform, and what they have done with that responsibility, it is something that I take a lot of pride in as a tennis fan. You have Martina Navratilova, who’s dealing with defecting, who’s dealing with coming out in the early ‘80s. And Billie Jean King, Arthur Ashe, Andre Agassi and what he does, Venus and Serena and what they do for literacy, Roger Federer building schools for UNICEF. Tennis is just the most responsible sport on Earth. We feel lucky to have the Hall of Fame here in Newport.”
Seeing so many Hall of Famers and legends give insight into their careers and reflect on the sport of tennis was utterly fascinating. ITHF had a lot on their plate this year, pivoting from the ATP decision to scrap their ATP 250 tournament. The organization rallied and smartly split the revamped tournament and Induction Celebration. They made bold choices and supplemented with tons of tennis content—such as the celebrity tournament—that engaged the tennis populace. What transpired was a fun-filled tennis fest that was a gift to the sport’s devotees. Game, set, match!
(Photo Credit: Veornica Bruno/What’sUpNewp)
