USTA Texas History

1958 – Texas drops the antiquated ‘Lawn’ from its name, becoming the Texas Tennis Association. The USLTA wouldn’t become the USTA until 1975.

1962 – The TTA establishes its first award, the W.T. Caswell Service Award, given to the Texas resident who has made valuable contributions to the growth and development of tennis in Texas.

1969 – After years as a 100% volunteer organization, the growth and management needed some paid staff. Warren Zimmerman of Dallas becomes the first paid Executive Director of the TTA.

1981 – Yvonne Garton of Midland becomes the first woman elected TTA president.

1985 – The Texas Tennis Association leases its first office in South Austin in 1985.

1988 – A three-tiered system is introduced for junior tournaments, leading to the Super Championship Junior Sectionals in Wichita Falls. The Sectionals were renamed The Texas Summer Grand Slam at the turn of the century before settling on its current name, The Texas Slam, in 2018.

1994 – Texas formed an alliance of the Boards of the Texas Tennis Coaches Association, the UPSTA Texas Professional Tennis Association and the Texas Tennis Association in order to coordinate all tennis activities in Texas.

1998 – The Texas Tennis Association is renamed the USTA Texas Section.

2004 – Under the leadership of President Carol Welder, the Texas Section was among the first to purchase its own office building, located in Northeast Austin.

2006 – National policy dictates a change in name to USTA Texas.

2008 – The Community Tennis Association Expansion Plan began with the goal of having all Adult League and Junior Team Tennis run by local CTA’s.

2011 – Dr. Alfredo Trevino, Jr. of Laredo becomes the first Hispanic president of the section.

2015 – The Texas Slam (then The Texas Grand Slam) surpasses 1,000 competitors, making it the largest junior tournament in the United States.

2019 – USTA Texas celebrates the 40th year of hosting the combined annual meeting with USPTA Texas.

2022 – In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Texas experiences a second "tennis boom" with millions of new players joining the game and participating in tennis events both locally and across the state. 

*Special thanks to the Texas Tennis Museum & Hall of Fame, as well as Ken McAllister’s Cattle to Courts: A History of Tennis in Texas in help compiling this information.