Tennis News

ORLANDO, FL, USA – On-the-rise American Christina McHale took a break from her off-season preparations to take WTA fans on an exclusive tour of the new USTA National Campus in Orlando, set to open in early 2017.

“It’s just a really great environment to be in,” said McHale, who was in town for a practice session on the Team USA Player Development courts.

Dubbed “the new Home Of American Tennis,” the National Campus will serve as the home base of USTA’s Player Development and USTA’s Community Tennis divisions as well as host USTA Pro Circuit events. Formerly in New York at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, which hosts the US Open, the new Orlando facility is one of the largest tennis facilities in the world.

Check out the video above to follow McHale on a first look at the brand new facility!

Fast Facts About The USTA National Campus:
· With 64-plus acres and 100 lighted tennis courts, the National Campus is one of the largest tennis facilities in the world.
· The USTA National Campus will open January 2, 2017 with the first tournament scheduled for January 6^th.
· The Campus will host over 80 tournaments and events in 2017 with approximately 30,000 participants.
· An expected 80,000-100,000 attendees will visit the Campus in 2017.
· The USTA’s Community Tennis and Player Development divisions will be headquartered at the National Campus. It will also be home to the national training center for USTA-certified officials.

Doubles World No.1 Sania Mirza is closing in on 90 weeks at the top of the rankings, but she’s still got unfinished business to take care of in 2017.

The Indian star ended the season as the world’s top doubles player for the second straight year, capping off a stellar run which saw her win three Grand Slams in a row, go on a 41-match winning streak and rack up an incredible 15 titles with four different partners.

But despite the impressive trophy haul, there’s still one title missing from her resume, and in 2017 Mirza intends to make things right on the red clay of Paris.

“In 2017, I would love to win a Grand Slam,” Mirza said, speaking at a promotional event in India. “If that [winning the French Open] does happen, it would be amazing. I won’t kill myself, if I don’t [win the French Open].

“It would be amazing for me to have three back-to-back years with at least one Grand Slam. So, that would be my goal really and everything else follows.”

Mirza came close to lifting the French Open doubles trophy in 2011 when she reached the final with then-partner Elena Vesnina, but six years down the road the World No.1 is heading to Paris in search of her first Coupe Simone-Mathieu and the Career Slam.