Boss lady

Not only were many of these players successful on the court, but they also were successful in their many endeavors off-court, as well - both within the realm of tennis and otherwise. Today's Black Tennis Month post is very emblematic of that; in fact, this woman was able to guide her post-playing career into perhaps the most prestigious post that any of these players have held, a position she still retains to this day.

Katrina Adams was born on August 5th, 1968 in...in...wait for it...CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS. Hey, I know that place a little bit! Woohoo! She first became interested in tennis the same way so many minorities did in the 1970s - by seeing Arthur Ashe winning Wimbledon. She began playing the sport thanks to the influence of her older brothers, who were a part of a tennis program at a park on the west side of the city and brought her along so they could babysit her. Katrina, who was technically too young to be part of the program, begged and begged her way onto the court because she thought she could pick up the sport much easier than the older kids; eventually, the folks in charge relented, and she was right - she was a natural. She began having success in national tournaments for children in her age group, and on the home front, played tennis at Whitney Young High School, where she won two state championships in singles. Upon graduating, she attended Northwestern University, where she was named an all-American and won the NCAA doubles title in 1987.

After her success in the collegiate ranks, Katrina decided to try her hand at professional tennis. She hit the pro tour during the fall of 1987, but ultimately didn't quite have the same success in singles on the pro tour as she did in high school in college. Her highest ranking was #67 and she never claimed a top-level title, falling in two finals. The best result she ever achieved in a Grand Slam was during her first full year on tour in 1988; she reached the fourth round of Wimbledon, where she fell in three sets to Chris Evert. She would never make it past the third round of a Grand Slam for the remainder of her career. However, she was very successful as a doubles player. She won 20 career titles in doubles, many of them won with either Zina Garrison or Lori McNeil as her partner; the trio of women became friends after Katrina moved to Houston upon starting her professional career and bonded over their shared experiences. She never won a major in doubles, but came close several times (her best finish being a semifinal appearance in the 1988 Wimbledon, partnering with Zina), and, all in all, carved out quite a niche for herself as a doubles player - 20 titles ain't no joke. Having almost entirely stopped playing singles after the 1997 season, Katrina pressed on for a couple more years in doubles, eventually retiring at the conclusion of the 1999 year.

Her involvement in the sport didn't end upon her retirement, though - Katrina served as a coach for the USTA for a spell, and also did some occasional for the Tennis Channel. 2005, however, is where she began her ascent to the post she currently holds now; she was named a member of the USTA's board that year, and, in 2013, became the vice president of the whole organization. She went one further than that at the beginning of 2015, as the presidential terms for the USTA typically last two years. Upon the then-president David Haggerty's completion of his term in 2015, Katrina assumed the mantle of president, becoming the first black person (let alone black woman) to hold the position. It's a role she still holds to this day, in fact. That's right - the president of the central hub of American tennis is a black woman from the west side of Chicago. Pretty fucking sweet, eh? EH?!

(Gee, I wonder who the two women she's standing with could possibly be...?)

You may have noticed that I still use present tense to describe Katrina's presidency, despite the fact that her term should have ended at the beginning of this year. That's because in an unprecedented move, the USTA decided that it was so happy with her leadership that it decided to extend her role at the top for a second term. In the entire history of the USTA, no one has ever served more than one term as president -- except, now, for Katrina. So not only did she break boundaries as the first black person to hold the title, she will, by default, become the longest-serving head of of the USTA. It seems like she's doing a pretty good job, all things considered; I've read many interviews of hers and I like the fact that she's not shying away from wanting to create more minority interest in the sport. Hell, one of the first things I wrote about in the very first post on this blog was about how my interest in the sport was seen as such an oddball thing in my community when I was growing up, and that's why I'm doing these posts - to show you that it's not an odd thing, that black folks have had both a vested interest AND lots of success in this sport for a long time, and will continue to do so. So good on ya, Katrina - I appreciate all that you do!

From the courts of Garfield Park on Chicago's west side to the head of the USTA - Katrina Adams, you have definitely done the damn thing. Keep up the good work!