CHARLESTON, S.C. (USA) — The dream for this Charleston tennis player/columnist in the 1980s and 90s was for Charleston tennis to one day have its own traveling tennis professional.
You know. A real pro who travels the world playing in big tournaments.
The city and area seemed to have tennis players everywhere, except at the elite level called professional tennis.
This is coming from a guy who was on site in Houston’s Astrodome in 1973 when Billie Jean King won the “Battle of the Sexes” match against Bobby Riggs.
BIG-TIME TENNIS IN CHARLESTON
I had covered all but a couple of the newly born WTA Tour’s tournaments at Hilton Head Island’s Sea Pines Plantation. And then in 2001, big-time tennis officially arrived in Charleston with the Family Circle Cup.
The Charleston area already had played host to some of the world’s best tennis players.
Andre Agassi won one of his first ATP Tour titles at the Isle of Palms’ Wild Dunes Resort in 1988 in the U.S. Clay Courts, a tournament that also included a very young Pete Sampras and Jim Courier.
I still remember interviewing the 16-year-old Sampras on the steps of the Wild Dunes clubhouse. Who was this young kid who would become the face of men’s tennis alongside Agassi and Courier?
Courier reached his first tour level semifinal at Wild Dunes in 1988.
NO SHORTAGE OF PROFESSIONAL TENNIS
Billie Jean King, Rosie Casals and other former greats played in the Lincoln Mercury Tennis Classics at Wild Dunes a few years earlier.
The likes of Grand Slam champions Arthur Ashe and John McEnroe had staged local exhibitions along with new Australian Open champion Roscoe Tanner and doubles great Peter Fleming, who teamed with McEnroe to win 52 doubles titles, including seven Grand Slams.
Lindsay Davenport and the U.S. Fed Cup team took on the Netherlands in 1998 at Kiawah Island.
The area had seen a regular diet of then-called satellite men’s and women’s pro tournaments, along with senior events such as men’s Grand Masters with Hall of Famers Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Cliff Drysdale and others including the great Pancho Gonzalez.
Since the mid-1970s former world’s top 50 player Roy Barth has been as close as nearby Kiawah Island where the tennis complex is named in his honor.
IT TOOK TIME FOR CHARLESTON’S OWN
Even with one of women’s tennis’ most prestigious tournaments already having played its first event on Daniel Island in 2001, Charleston still didn’t have its own tour level professional tennis player.
After the Family Circle Cup arrived, there was the Davis Cup semifinals between the United States and Belarus on Daniel Island in 2004. Andy Roddick had his serve working perfectly, and capacity crowds at then almost new Family Circle Stadium were able to be a part of Roddick hitting the fastest serve ever at that time, 151 mph.
Billie Jean King brought her World Team Tennis finals to Daniel Island a couple of times. It was a great event, but Charleston’s summer heat must have played a role in the event leaving town.
TWO OF CHARLESTON’S OWN
Shelby Rogers was still just 17 years old when Charleston was named America’s “Best Tennis Town” at the 2010 U.S.Open.
But in the 50th consecutive version of the original Family Circle Cup, the newly named Credit One Charleston Open had two of Charleston’s own players in the tournament’s main draw. Both had been in the main draw before.
Nevertheless, this 2022 event is a little more special. There is only a hint of Covid 19 these days and few masks are on display at the tennis tournament.
SHELBY AND EMMA PLAY SPECIAL ROLES
Rogers and Emma Navarro are very special to Charleston tennis history. Both grew up in Charleston and both played singles matches in Credit One Stadium this week.
And then there’s the sparkling modern-looking stadium on Daniel Island that shines with its $50 million makeover. The players love the new amenities of the 11,000-seat stadium.
Rogers, now 29 years old, lost in the first round to veteran Kaia Kanepi after leading, 7-6, 5-4, and NCAA singles champion Navarro fell to Ons Jabeur in the second round.
Rogers, of course, is a talented player who has moved up to No. 44 in the WTA Tour rankings. . . and climbing. She has beaten several of the best players in the women’s game.
PLENTY TO SHARE ABOUT IN TENNIS
Navarro, the daughter of Credit One Charleston Open owner Ben Navarro, is preparing to make a run for another NCAA title while playing for the University of Virginia. She already has climbed to No. 194 in the world and is currently ranked No. 201.
Just a sophomore, Navarro hasn’t announced when she will turn pro. But it’s probably just a matter of time for the former world’s No. 1 junior, a junior French Open doubles champion and singles runner-up.
So, Charleston has plenty to cheer about in tennis, especially on the women’s side. Because of the presence and influence of one of the WTA Tour’s brightest and best events, Charleston likely will have other WTA Tour standouts of its own in future years.
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James Beck was the 2003 winner of the USTA National Media Award as the tennis columnist for the Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier newspapers. A 1995 MBA graduate of The Citadel, he can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com.
