Dorcas & Ken Miller Reflect on Senior Slam Success

CONCORD, MA – Dorcas and Ken Miller are mainstays in the New England Senior Tennis scene. Players, organizers, award winners, website managers (Ken) and New England Hall of Famers (Dorcas), this dynamic duo has made a tremendous impact on the sport and is continuously contributing to the growth of senior tennis.

In 2009, the Millers created the New England Senior Slams, a series of summer tournaments for senior players to be played on hard, grass and clay. Highlighted by these efforts, they were recognized at the 2019 New England Tennis Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony with the Irving Levine Award, for a lifetime of service and dedication to the sport.

Now, 12 years after founding the series and watching it grow into a New England summer staple, the Millers are ready to hang it up and pass the torch to the next generation.  

Why did you create the Senior Slams?

We wanted to get more people coming in. Tournaments were really deteriorating, and lots of them had low entry numbers. There were no officials, no player gifts or parties – It was a low point for tournaments, and we were just trying to save them.

How much have the Slams grown over the years?

We started by just calling friends and people on teams we played on. We started small but grew very quickly. For these players, we weren’t going to Wimbledon, so we all wanted to see our tennis buddies and socialize as much as we could, and that’s been a big part of it. People just like to hang out and chat, so we’ve had dinners, luncheons, cocktail parties and more over the years. Before COVID, we were averaging about 140-160 players per tournament.