Category: Tennis

Katrina Adams

Katrina Adams has accomplished many firsts at the U.S. Tennis Association, including being the first African-American, first former player and youngest person to be chairman, president and CEO. She also recently became the first person to be reappointed to a second consecutive term. Adams had a 12-year pro career that saw her ranked as high as No. 67 in singles and No. 8 in doubles. She then served on the WTA board and WTA’s Players Association before joining the USTA board in 2005. During her time at the helm, she has overseen $500 million in improvements to the U.S. Open and construction of a new tennis center with 100 courts set to open in Orlando. In this interview with SportsTravel’s Jason Gewirtz, conducted live on stage at the TEAMS ’16 Conference & Expo, Adams discusses her start in the sport…

Pat O’Brien

Pat O’Brien was in the middle of some of the biggest sports stories of the 1980s and ‘90s. He served as a regular NFL voice on CBS and covered events that regularly included the NCAA Final Four and the U.S. Open, and later several winter and summer Olympics. His run on CBS Sports lasted from 1981 to 1997. But he became even more well known after making the leap into entertainment reporting, helping to launch “Access Hollywood” until eventually becoming a story himself after an explicit voice mail he had left was leaked to the press. Now recovering from his own addiction to alcohol, he has written “I’ll Be Right Back After This,” a memoir chronicling his problems and…

Jim Baugh

In his lengthy career in the sports industry, Jim Baugh has overseen some significant campaigns. While he was vice-president of sales and marketing for Prince from 1977–1983, he helped launch and market the first oversized tennis racket. As racquet sports general manager and later president at Wilson Sporting Goods from 1987–2003, he oversaw a $1 billion company with a global marketing reach. His work in tennis later led him to become president of the Tennis Industry Association and a USTA board member. Now a sports-industry consultant, his latest project is as president and CEO of PHIT America, which is pushing passage of the Personal Health Investment Today…

Todd Martin

In his professional playing career, Todd Martin achieved considerable success. His career ranking peaked at No. 4, and he was a finalist at the 1994 Australian Open and 1999 U.S. Open. He also served as president of the ATP Players Council for eight of the 14 years he played professionally. Martin later went on to coach and is serving his second term on the USTA Board of Directors. Earlier this year, he accepted a position as CEO of the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum in Newport, Rhode Island, and is preparing to take over for long-time director Mark Stenning, who will leave the post in September. In his new role, Martin will also serve as director…