Virginia Tennis

Roughly 18 million people in our country play tennis—that’s nearly the populations of Virginia and North Carolina combined.

It’s the world’s fourth most popular sport, ahead of football, basketball, and baseball in international rankings. Home to notable tennis history, well-known tournaments, top clubs and college programs, and world class resorts, Virginia is the sport’s Mid-Atlantic hub. The Commonwealth’s vibrant tennis culture spans generations and continues to grow.

Arthur Ashe

5/7/1975 Wimbledon Tennis Championships, Arthur Ashe. (Photo by Gerry Cranham/Getty Images)

Arthur Ashe in the 1975 Wimbledon Tennis Championship.

Servin’ It Up

Virginia’s tennis fame began in Richmond. Tennis legend John McEnroe, winner of seven Grand Slam singles titles, has said that the River City has “a great tradition of hosting professional tennis events” and is “one of the best tennis towns” in America. “Most importantly, it is the home of one of the greatest athletes our sport has ever known, the late, great Arthur Ashe,” McEnroe wrote in the foreword for Richmond: One of America’s Best Tennis Towns, published in 2012 by the Richmond Tennis Association. 

Ashe learned how to play at Richmond’s Brookfield Park in the 1950s. Mentored by Virginia Union University student Ron Charity and in Lynchburg by the American Tennis Association’s Robert Walter Johnson, he was the first black player on the United States Davis Cup team and is still the only black man ever to win the singles titles at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, and the Australian Open. Although Ashe left Virginia in 1960, he is still considered a hometown hero in Richmond, where he is memorialized with a statue, a street, an elementary school, and an athletic center; he is buried in the city’s Woodland Cemetery.

Richmond’s place in the tennis history books was cemented in 1970, when Westwood Club in Henrico County hosted one of the first Virginia Slims Invitational Tournaments. At the time, there was no separate tour for women. Founded in part by tennis legend Billie Jean King, who won in its inaugural year and again in 1972, and Margaret Court, the 1973 champion, the tour led to the founding of the Women’s Tennis Association and helped create more parity in prize purses between men’s and women’s tennis. The capital city was in the national spotlight once again in 2010, when it was named one of the country’s top tennis towns in a nationwide contest conducted by the United States Tennis Association (USTA).

Megan McCray at the Mid-Atlantic Clay Court Championships at Salisbury Country Club.

Acin’ It

These days, Richmond is known for the McDonald’s Mid-Atlantic Clay Court Championships (MACCC), which is held at Salisbury Country Club in Midlothian every summer. Scheduled for July 5-10 this year, MACCC is one of the biggest tennis tournaments in the Mid-Atlantic. “Bill Barnes and Scott Steinour took the (McDonald’s) State Clay Courts from a sleepy little tournament to a thriving $30,000 week-long success story at Salisbury Country Club featuring some of the top college and underrated pros in the region,” says John Packett, a sports reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch who covered thousands of matches, including local and state tournaments, the U.S. Open, and the Davis Cup finals, during his 40-year career. 

“We are so proud of how this tournament has grown over the last 15 years,” says Scott Steinour, 51, Salisbury’s tennis director since 1997. The event came to the club in 1999 as the USTA/Virginia Clay Court Championships. Steinour and Barnes signed McDonald’s as the title sponsor and in 2006 rebranded the tournament as the Mid-Atlantic Clay Court Championships. The concept took off and continues to attract some of the top 300 players in the world, elite college players, nationally ranked juniors, and local talent. Spectators never know if they are watching a superstar in the making; John Peers played the MACCC before heading off on tour and went on to be No. 1 in the world in doubles. “This event demonstrates what an impressive tennis community is right here in Richmond,” says Steinour. “[It] draws not only top players, but the most appreciative and knowledgeable fans imaginable.”

The Bernstine family at Hermitage Country Club, from left: Evan, Mark, Diane, Ryan, and Chase.

It’s also arguably the most unusual venue on the East Coast, thanks to its skybox viewing for sponsors and players. The skybox is constructed between the rows of clay clay courts—imagine a long, rectangular, gazebo-like structure on stilts. Spectators have a bird’s eye view of the action on the rows of courts on either side of the structure. 

“We have a reputation for being a really unique boutique event with good prize money. The atmosphere is electric. Seeing the crowds and the people cheering different matches and players on, and knowing that I had a part in bringing this to Richmond, is one of my biggest joys. One night I was sitting in the skybox in the dark, the courts were all lit up and all around people were cheering, and I thought, wow, this is cool.”

Indoors at the prestigious Virginia Beach Tennis and Country Club.

Advantage Virginia Beach

One of the largest and most prestigious tennis clubs in the country, the Virginia Beach Tennis and Country Club is a great place both to see the stars compete and to support up and coming players. The club hosts several national tournaments, including the National Men’s 75 & 80 Clay Court Championships in October, where you can see the best male players in the country in their class, as well as the National Girls’ 12 & Under and the National Boys’ 14s tournaments. VBTCC was also home for decades to the Girls’ 16 National Clay Court Championships, which future college star and WTA player Lindsey Davenport, who won the tournament in 1991, called her favorite junior tournament ever. More recently, Sloane Stephens and sister stars Christina and Lauren McHale also launched their national careers at the tournament.

Shiflet sisters Stacey Wright Shiflet, Julie Shiflet Davidson, and Laurie Shiflet Hackbirth at the Virginia Beach Tennis and Country Club circa 1970s.

Apart from the spotlight, the award-winning facility is also a great place to learn to play. General manager Laurie Shiflet Hackbirth says, “My family built the club in 1975. A lot of tennis clubs didn’t allow children, and my parents had a vision for a tennis club that was family friendly.” VBTCC hosts the prestigious Davidson Academy for juniors, but the nationally known pros are also happy to teach beginners. “They love to see how tennis can enrich everyone’s life,” says Hackbirth.

Hackbirth, 50, and her four siblings grew up playing tennis and working at the club. She won the Girls’ 16 National Clay Court Championships in 1988 and 1989 on her home court, helping cement the club’s reputation, and went on to be a star of the women’s team at Virginia Tech, holding both regional and national singles rankings. Her sister Julie was an All-American at William and Mary, and played on tour; Julie is still a pro at the club. “Tennis is a wonderful family sport,” says Hackbirth, whose daughters Lilly, 19, and Lexi, 15, both play. “It’s one of the few sports you can pick up at any point in life.”

Jammin’ It

Tennis is a family affair for many in Virginia. Former Virginia Tech tennis star Mark Bernstine, 51, has been the tennis director at Hermitage Country Club in Richmond since 1987. Growing up in New Jersey, he was ranked first in his region at 14 and played in all the national tournaments during his junior years. At Tech, he won the Collegiate Virginia State Championship in singles his senior year.

Chase Bernstine volleys with his dad, Mark, at Hermitage Country Club.

Bernstine parlayed his success on the court into a career helping players take their game to the next level. His sons Chase, 21, Ryan, 19, and Evan, 15, are no exception. Some of their earliest memories are of hitting balls with their dad as preschoolers. As each boy’s dedication and love for the sport grew, the sessions with Coach Dad turned into focused daily workouts to build skills and technique. “The best thing,” says Bernstine, “is watching my sons grow and mature. The hardest thing is trying not to get frustrated with attitude or performance. It’s pretty neat that they all like playing tennis and enjoy competing and traveling.”

After competing in the most prestigious junior tennis tournament in the country, the USTA Boys’ 16 and 18 National Championships in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Chase and Ryan both followed their father’s footsteps to Virginia Tech. “Every time I went to Blacksburg, I fell more in love with the school and community,” says Chase. “It definitely made me work a little harder on the court because I wanted to be a part of something like that.”

He adds, “One of the things tennis has taught me is that nothing in the world comes easy. You have to work hard and be driven if you want to achieve something. My mom, Diane, always instilled in us to never give up, and that’s a mindset I’ll carry with me for life.”

The Nike Junior Tennis Camp at Wintergreen.

Mini Break

Inexperienced players and anyone looking to up their game in Virginia are in luck; the Commonwealth is home to one of the top tennis destinations in the country. Built in the 1970s in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Wintergreen Resort has long been an elite getaway; First Daughter Amy Carter skied there, Today Show weatherman Willard Scott owned a condo there, President Bill Clinton visited, and Muhammad Ali was a frequent guest. The resort’s tennis center, part of the initial phase of building, was completed in 1978 and has been expanded and updated many times over the decades to create a world class facility.

Today, Wintergreen is ranked as the top tennis academy in Virginia, the top family tennis resort in the country, and one of the top 25 tennis resorts in the world. “The appeal of playing tennis at Wintergreen is the cool mountain air,” says the resort’s director of tennis, Kostyantyn Khodirev. “Temperatures are consistently 15 degrees cooler on top of the mountain at Devils Knob Tennis Facility than in the valley.” As a result, more than 2,000 people take part in the resort’s tennis program each year, “with the highest volume between Memorial Day and Labor Day.”

Kostyanyn Khodirev coaching.

Of course, the amazing facilities and expert staff add to the appeal. In addition to 22 courts and year-round play, Wintergreen offers skill drills, clinics, and competitions for adults and children, including private lessons and video analysis, and is a Nike Junior Tennis Camp five-star site. Beginning players can join the Tennis Academy to learn the game, while advanced players can polish their game with rigorous training. Tennis pro Shelly Stillman-Scott received the first full women’s tennis scholarship at the University of Virginia and still competes as a 5.0 player.  Khodirev has coached U.S. Tennis Association teams to the national championship. “We take great pride in providing a first-class level of service for our guests,” she says. 

Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned player, there is something special about the sport that draws people in. “It is a relatively easy game to learn the basics, but can lead to a lifetime of mastering,” explains Khodirev. “Location and type of surface offers greater variety of play and a welcoming change of environment, such as elevation changes or playing on a clay court. With the introduction of kid-friendly equipment, players can play starting at the age of 3 all the way into their 80s or 90s. During the tennis journey, players make lifelong friends and build lasting connections. A majority of players see the appeal in an individual sport (vs. a team sport) and the ability to play the rest of their life.” 

This article originally appeared in the August 2020 issue.