St Petersburg Tennis Center

History:

The St. Petersburg Tennis Center was established in 1928, with the clubhouse being re-built in 1934.  This new clubhouse served the St. Petersburg area well for over 70 years, before being replaced in 2009 with the beautiful building we have today.

Over this history, we’ve hosted many major tournaments including the State Closed Junior Championships, the St. Petersburg Masters Professional Tournament, and professional women’s events.

The old clubhouse contained the Walk of Champions, which listed over 90 legendary players who previously played at the tennis center.  These names can now be found on the clubhouse deck, overlooking the courts.

Some of the players are Bill Tilden, Jack Kramer, Don Budge, Doris Hart, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Margaret Court, Arthur Ashe, Billy Jean King, and Martina Navratilova.

Chris Evert won her first professional title on the stadium courts named in her honor. Over a dozen professional players and well over 100 college players developed their games under such world-renowned tennis coaches as Dan Sullivan and Bill Lufler. The center became known as the Court of Dreams.

Opened in 2011, our beautiful museum is our showcase of over 80 years of St. Pete tennis, and can be found right in the clubhouse lobby.