Newport Beach honored as USTA SoCal ‘Tennis Town’
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Tennis is a popular sport in the city of Newport Beach, from top-ranked prep players to dedicated adult leagues and everything in between.
Newport Beach was honored as a United States Tennis Assn. Southern California “Tennis Town” in a ceremony Thursday evening at Palisades Tennis Club.
Local tennis coaches, players and community leaders attended the award presentation, with USTA SoCal executive director Trevor Kronemann presenting the commendation to Newport Beach City Councilmember Sara Weber.
Kronemann said presenting the award to Newport Beach was personal to him. Forty years ago, he arrived at UC Irvine with his own personal tennis dream. He went on to become a a longtime player for the Newport Beach/Orange County Breakers of World Team Tennis, and served as the team’s head coach from 2007 to 2013.
The Breakers played at Palisades from 2003 to 2006, before returning to the venue in 2017.
“Right here at Palisades Tennis Club, I played in countless memorable practices, collegiate matches, prize-money tournaments, and World Team Tennis matches — experiences that are forever ingrained in me and that played a major role in my success as both a player and a coach,” Kronemann said. “Newport Beach is the epicenter of tennis in Southern California. If you were to place a pin on a map here and draw a 75-mile circle around it, you would find more than 50 Grand Slam champions who have made Newport Beach their home — players like Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, Rick Leach, Lindsay Davenport, Phil Dent, John Fitzgerald and Scott Davis, among many others.”
Kronemann thanked area coaches like Phil Dent, Taylor Dent, Ross Case, Robert Van’t Hof, Billy McQuaid, Syd Ball, Cameron Ball, Greg Patton, Hank Lloyd and more. He also singled out club owners, such as the late Ken Stuart, Eric Davidson and Steve Joyce.
USTA SoCal launched the Tennis Town program last year, recognizing communities with rich tennis traditions and strong player engagement. Newport Beach is the seventh community honored, joining Bakersfield, Ojai, Claremont, Long Beach, Coachella Valley and Palos Verdes Peninsula.
“Thank you to the adult league players, the tournament competitors, the social players and everyone who loves our sport,” Kronemann said. “Your passion, energy and enthusiasm make this one of the most special places on the map for the world’s healthiest sport — tennis.”
Thursday night’s event also featured a doubles exhibition with Murphy Jensen, Max McKennon, Cameron Ball and Drew Arbeiter.
