GAME
SET
MATCH
Three-part feature story, chronicling the history of the Racquet Club and what it has meant to the city of Memphis. The club is set to be demolished later this year.
Part I
Closing Time
Every time I drive into the parking lot, it appears more and more desolate. Ken greets me with a smile and a wave, as he always does.
I walk into the club and I notice the walls are bare, as the photographs, paintings and honor boards have been taken down. The pro shop is empty—racquets and clothes all sold in a going out of business sale.
I walk up the stairs to the viewing galleria. A room, once designated as a place for social gatherings, is now cold and dark. Through the glass windows, the indoor courts sit lifeless.
I sit down with Grace Anne Mabry, a 30-year club member. We both let out a collective sigh, as it dawns on us what we are losing.
We are losing our tennis home: The Racquet Club of Memphis.
Jimmy Connors hits a forehand at the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships. Connors won the event in Memphis a tournament record four times in 1978, 1979, 1983 and 1984.
Towards the end of May, the Racquet Club will close its doors officially after its current ownership group, Golden Set Holdings (GSH), decided the property could be more profitable as something other than a private tennis club.
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“The property is worth more dead than alive,” Grace Anne Mabry told me. “It hurts, there’s tears in my eyes and as my husband said, you’re really going to miss that place, you’re over there all the time—you live there.”
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The club closed to members on March 31; however, the club has remained open for specific activities such as University of Memphis practice, high school tennis, pickleball and contract court play. The club itself will likely be demolished at some point later this year as club owners have their eyes set on redeveloping the prime real estate in East Memphis.
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The Racquet Club was once a social institution and at one point many years ago, it was the best private club in the country according to UofM men’s tennis coach Paul Goebel.
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“The Racquet Club used to be the premier tennis club in America and still remains a very nice club today,” Goebel said. “It definitely was a surprise to me. I am still a believer that the club can do well as a tennis club.”
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In November of last year, GSH finally put an end to rumors, and management sent a letter to members informing them that the club would be closing.
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Grace Anne Mabry said that she believes management have been setting the club up to close for over five years.
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“Management couldn’t care less,” Mabry said. “They made it so people would gradually leave.”
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Members and staff at the Racquet Club are at odds as to the exact reason for the club’s closing. Dan Singer, director of tennis, has worked at the Racquet Club for more than 11 years. He said the club was losing too much money to keep it open.
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“The owners are in it probably more as a business opportunity, they [owners] have seen a steady decrease in income and an increase in cost,” Singer said. “The overall model just wasn’t working.”
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Taylor Taylor, former director of sales, marketing and wellness at the Racquet Club, said the club wasn’t struggling financially.
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“The club was doing very well financially,” Taylor said. “The club is closing because the ownership doesn’t want to run a club.”
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One thing that is for certain is that the members of the Racquet Club love the place, and they are all deeply saddened to see it close.
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“The members were disappointed,” Singer said. “They hate it for the city. They hate it for the loss of tennis and court availability, and they’re just saddened about the memories that are going to be lost.”
Nikoloz Basilashvili (left), Georgia, and Ryan Harrison (right) shake hands at the conclusion of the 2017 Memphis Open final, the last ever professional men's match to be played at the Racquet Club. Harrison beat Basilashvili in straight sets 6-1, 6-4 to claim his maiden ATP world tour title.
PART II
A Golden Age
The Memphis Athletic Club, as it was formerly known, was founded in 1957. The club was acquired by William B. “Billy” Dunavant in the early 1970s who renamed it the Racquet Club.
Phil Chamberlain was hired by Billy Dunavant in 1978 as the head tennis professional. Chamberlain became the director of tennis two years later, a post he held for 28 years. Chamberlain was instrumental in the Racquet Club becoming one of the most prestigious clubs in the United States in the 1980s and 1990s.
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“When Billy hired me, he wanted the Racquet Club to be recognized as one of the top facilities in the world, have a tournament that is recognized on the world tour and to have the highest ranked junior program possible,” Chamberlain said.
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Chamberlain delivered on Dunavant’s request propelling the club onto the national and international stage. Chamberlain said the Racquet Club’s junior program was once the best in the country, even better than world renowned Nick Bollettieri’s IMG academy.
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“When you have that [junior program] going along with the success of the professional tournament, the image was very strong at the Racquet Club and it was seen as the premier club in the country,” Chamberlain said.
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During the late 1980s, the club enjoyed its highest membership, totaling approximately 1,400 membership accounts according to Chamberlain and Taylor Taylor.
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Arguably, the main reason the Racquet Club was so successful was its connection to professional tennis. Until 2014, the Racquet Club was the only private indoor racquet club in the world to host a men’s and women’s professional tennis event.
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“You’d turn up to watch tennis in that little stadium and it was one of a kind, every seat was a golden seat,” Mabry said. “You couldn’t get that anywhere else—we got spoiled.”
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For 42 years, the club hosted one of the longest running professional tournaments on the men’s tennis world tour. From 1976 to the early 2000s the men’s Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tournament attracted the best tennis players in the world, players such as Arthur Ashe, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Jim Courier, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick.
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The Racquet Club’s success stimulated substantial growth in tennis infrastructure in Memphis. The club attracted quite a number of affluent members from places like Memphis Country Club, Chickasaw Country Club and Colonial Country Club to play tennis year round. This in turn caused other country clubs to build their own indoor courts.
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Come the turn of the century, the private club industry and interest in tennis was at an all-time high in the city of Memphis.
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The Racquet Club had its first major ownership change in 2001, when general manager, Mac Winker, bought the club from Billy Dunavant. Over a period of eight years Winker and Chamberlain took the professional tournament to another level.
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Under Winker and Chamberlain the men’s professional tournament was upgraded from an ATP 250 to 500 event. The change in structure to the tournament meant more ranking points, an increase in draw size and more prize money. All of which, kept the top players in the world coming to Memphis.
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“It was a huge coup for us to become a 500 level tournament,” Chamberlain said. “With that level came a certain amount of prestige, rankings points, money and players.”
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Winker and Chamberlain also added a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) event in 2002. The women’s event was incredibly successful, running from 2002 to 2013 and attracted stars such as Venus Williams, Lindsay Davenport and Maria Sharapova.
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The Racquet Club could not have been doing any better, but in August of 2008 everything changed.
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After negotiations to sell the club and tournament locally fell through, a group of investors from San Jose, Shark Sports and Entertainment, bought the club and tournament off Mac Winker. Shark Sports already owned a professional tournament in California and the San Jose Sharks. It was at this time that current owners, GSH, bought into the club, owning a minority with Shark Sports holding the majority.
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Chamberlain said if the club had remained locally owned he would have stayed on at the club and the club and tournament would have remained successful today.
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“When they [Shark Sports and Entertainment] got rid of our main person, Phil Chamberlain, the club spiraled downhill and it has never come back,” Mabry said. “If Phil or Peter Lebedevs [former director of tennis] were here, it [the Racquet Club] wouldn’t be going under.”
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Phil Chamberlain left the Racquet Club shortly after Shark Sports bought the club majority. Chamberlain said he disagreed with the philosophy the new owners brought to membership and ticket sales at the professional tournament.
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Prior to Shark Sports taking over, the professional tournament was sponsorship driven, with an emphasis on community involvement and a strong connection to the Racquet Club and its membership.
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“The tournament became totally ticket driven and not membership driven,” Chamberlain said. “That was not a successful formula, and I knew at the time it wasn’t.”
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The last year Chamberlain ran the tournament, in 2008, it had 76,000 spectators for the week, a tournament record.
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“In 2009, the year after I left, the tournament lost at least $20,000 in ticket sales,” Chamberlain said. “When the tournament started to lose money, ownership had to sell off the 500 level men’s tournament and the women’s tournament altogether to recoup their losses.”
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Following Chamberlain and Winker’s departure, the Racquet Club and Memphis Open struggled financially. Chamberlain fostered relationships with prominent businessmen Allen Morgan and Fred Smith, both of whom sponsored the tournament. Chamberlain said these relationships for the tournament were lost when Shark Sports came in and approached sponsorship the wrong way.
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In 2014, the ATP 500 and WTA events were relocated to Rio de Janeiro. The Racquet Club’s ownership then purchased the ATP 250 event held in San Jose to keep professional tennis in Memphis.
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Shark Sports subsequently sold the Racquet Club majority to GSH in 2014. During this transition, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) owned the tournament for a short stint before GF Sports bought it in 2015.
GF sports named the tournament the Memphis Open. However, the company could not secure a title sponsor for the tournament and decided to move the event to New York in 2017.
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“Unfortunately our city didn’t support it [the Memphis Open],” Mabry said. “If we didn’t have a sponsor like Morgan Keegan or Kroger then they couldn’t do it.”
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The Racquet Club’s financials significantly changed after the loss of the professional tournament as the club had to rely solely on the economics of the club business. In the letter sent to club members, GSH said that the club business model around the country is not what was 20 years ago.
Former world No. 1, Bjorn Borg, Sweden, gets ready for a match at the Racquet Club. Borg was one of many No. 1’s who played in Memphis. He won the event in 1977 when it was called the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships, beating Brian Gottfried in four sets.
Two American tennis legends, Arthur Ashe (left) and Jimmy Connors (right) shake hands at the end of a match at the Racquet Club. Arthur Ashe was the first African American to win Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and Australian Open. The stadium court at the U.S. Open is now named in his honor.
John Newcombe, Australia, prepares to return serve on the indoor carpet in Memphis. Newcombe is one of the few players to have reached world No. 1 in both singles and doubles.
Former world No. 1, Bjorn Borg, Sweden, gets ready for a match at the Racquet Club. Borg was one of many No. 1’s who played in Memphis. He won the event in 1977 when it was called the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships, beating Brian Gottfried in four sets.
Lleyton Hewitt, Australia, prepares to play a forehand at the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships. In 2001, Hewitt became the youngest male ever to be ranked No. 1.
Bob Bryan, United States, prepares to volley on the stadium court at the Racquet Club. Bob and his brother Mike have won 118 doubles titles as a team. The Bryan’s loyalty to the tournament saw them inducted to the Memphis Open hall of fame.
American Ryan Harrison plays a backhand during the final edition of the Memphis Open in 2017. Harrison won the last ever event at the Racquet Club. He was the first American winner in six years, but his feat could not save the tournament in Memphis.
Lleyton Hewitt, Australia, prepares to play a forehand at the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships. In 2001, Hewitt became the youngest male ever to be ranked No. 1.
Part III
A community lost
The Racquet Club was not only a multi-sport complex, it was a social hub that enabled members to build life-long relationships. Club members have been left bewildered as to why more effort wasn’t put it in to keep the club alive.
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“I think it didn’t have to happen,” Mabry said. “They [ownership] could’ve sold the club and kept it open. Nobody else in Memphis has these courts, why would you tear them down?”
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In response to GSH citing the club business isn’t what it was 20 years ago, Taylor Taylor said younger generations no longer see private clubs as the best place to socialize.
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“People are so busy nowadays, they are not prioritizing club life like they used to,” Taylor said. “People don’t spend their social hours in the club because there are so many more things to do.”
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Singer and Taylor also said the financials involved with being a member of a private or country club are often too expensive for young people to handle. Singer said clubs charging their members at the end of the year for costs such as facility improvements is one reason the industry is struggling.
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In her role as director of marketing, sales and wellness, Taylor and club ownership made an intentional shift to try and attract a younger membership base to give the Racquet Club sustainability.
The club put more emphasis on the social aspect of the business, including the swimming pool and restaurant. Taylor also joined the Rotary Club in an attempt to find a new members, but quickly learned she was fighting a losing battle.
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“What we learned is that people are club people or they’re not,” Taylor said. “Most new members came to us. They were coming to Memphis from other cities where they had been a part of a club similar to ours—they were used to club life.”
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The Racquet Club closing will not only affect its members but it is going to have a considerable impact on the broader tennis community in Memphis.
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The club has 26 courts, 16 outdoor and 10 indoor, making it the largest facility of both indoor and outdoor courts in the city. The biggest concern for Racquet Club members and tennis players in the city is the lack of indoor court availability once the Racquet Club closes.
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Being the largest facility in town, the Racquet Club hosted many tournaments for both juniors and adults. The club held more sanctioned tournaments than any other facility in the city. Singer said the loss of these tournaments will hurt the growth of tennis.
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“There hasn’t been a great deal of growth of people coming to tennis in Memphis the last 15 years,” Chamberlain said. “I think without the tournament or the Racquet Club it is going to be even more challenging to bring people to the game.”
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The Racquet Club has also had a large impact on the UofM tennis program. This Spring, the Tigers are completing their eighth season using the Racquet Club as their home facility.
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“Playing at the Racquet Club has totally changed our program’s perception nationally,” Goebel said. “To have indoor courts, outdoor courts, clay courts, fitness center and locker rooms all at the same place is very unique and not many universities have that, which made it easier for us to attract some top recruits.”
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Playing at the Racquet Club enabled the UofM to become a top ranked program in the country, with the men’s team reaching as high as No. 16. It also enabled players to network with club members, and the relationship between Memphis teams and club members was always a positive one.
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Cedric De Zutter is the current junior director of tennis at the Racquet Club and is a former Memphis Tiger.
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“We had a lot of members coming out to not only our home matches but some of our practices,” De Zutter said. “We hosted conference here at the club and we had a lot of members supporting us which was fantastic.”
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Goebel said the university is in the third year of their second five year contract with the Racquet Club. The club has informed the Tigers that they can use the courts until their season finishes in May.
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The university announced in March that it has partnered with the city of Memphis to enhance and enlarge the Leftwich Tennis Center. This new facility off Southern Avenue will become the home of the men’s and women’s UofM tennis teams.
The Racquet Club entrance during one of the final playing’s of the Memphis Open. The Memphis Open had both day and night sessions, with some night sessions going into the early morning.
The stadium court at the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships. The stadium capacity at the Racquet Club was reduced when the tournament began to struggle with attendance. Not even the Bryan brothers (pictured) could fill the small stadium.
Randy Stafford (left) and Taylor Taylor (right) lunge for a volley in a game of pickleball at the Racquet Club. Pickleball is one of the fastest growing sports in the United States and was vastly popular at the Racquet Club. Taylor Taylor, a former tennis pro at the club, is the founder and director of the Mid-South Pickleball Club, who paid rent to use the pickle ball courts at the Racquet Club.
The Racquet Club entrance during one of the final playing’s of the Memphis Open. The Memphis Open had both day and night sessions, with some night sessions going into the early morning.
Bio
Louis Asser
My name is Louis Asser, I am a 24-year-old sports fanatic from Australia, living in Memphis, Tennessee.
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I am currently employed as a graduate assistant at the University of Memphis, while studying a Master of Arts, majoring in Journalism and Strategic Media.
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My passion in life is sport and, in particular, the sport of tennis. Tennis has taken me all around the world and is the reason I am here in the states today. I have been a tennis coach for the last nine years and am currently the varsity and middle school coach at St. Agnes Academy & St. Dominic School. I am also the junior director of tennis at The West Chop Club on Martha’s Vineyard during the summer season [Jun-Sept].
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I played Division I college tennis for the University of Memphis from 2014-2017 and was a tennis instructor at the Racquet Club during that time.
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I would like to thank Robert Vaughn for providing all of the images for this piece. I would also like to thank Prof. Robert Byrd from the University of Memphis for his guidance on the piece.