The Garden City Tennis Series begins with the First Annual Garden City Singles Championship on Aug. 16 to 18 and continues through the first two weekends of September with the Third Annual Garden City Doubles Championship.
This event is hosted by Friends of Newton Tennis to raise money for the maintenance of tennis courts in Newton. The first tennis event hosted by Friends of Newton Tennis was four years ago at Newton South. It was co-ed, all levels and ages, and had about 100 players.
“People loved it so much they said, ‘Can you formalize this into a real tournament?’” said Tom Friedman, president of the organization. The Garden City Tennis Series was born.
This year, they’ve added an elite singles championship with prize money on Aug. 16 to 18, as well as an elite women’s doubles championship along with the advanced plus doubles championship on Sept. 7 and 8, also with prize money.
Novice and intermediate players are still welcome at the novice/intermediate doubles championship on Sep. 14 and 15.
Friedman and other members of Friends of Newton Tennis felt that this would be a good way to make the series more accessible to everyone.
Last year they experienced rain delays, so they are hoping that spreading it over three weekends will reduce potential rain-related issues.
There is also a Garden City Junior Challengers program for children ages 7 to 13 who would like to learn how to play tennis or improve on their game.
A $40,000 grant from the New England Tennis Camp & Education Foundation allows them to keep group sizes small and means each child gets an opportunity to play three matches per session. “It’s stress free, and not about winning, but about how to play a match,” said Friedman.
Friends of Newton Tennis also realized the tennis series could be a good opportunity for fundraising. Newton has 66 public tennis courts. Clay courts require a yearly registration fee to use, but hard courts are free to everyone.
Hard courts still have maintenance costs, however, and this has become increasingly difficult for the city to cover. Friends of Newton Tennis has stepped in to help raise money to pay for the costs, doing regular court audits to see what needs to be fixed. Corporate sponsorships and registration fees at the Garden City Tennis Series have allowed them to give money to the city for repairs. It’s also a chance to garner individual donations by saying to players, “Wouldn’t you have a better playing experience if this court were nicer?”
Friedman is pleased by the wide range of players the series and game attracts.
“Unlike almost any other sport, tennis is a lifelong sport. I stopped playing it for 35 years and came back to it,” he said. The tennis series is in honor of Isadore Singer, a Newton resident and MIT mathematics professor who died in 2021 and was playing tennis into his 90s. And on the other hand, college players from some of New England’s best teams have come to Newton to compete.
Friends of Newton Tennis was also asked by the mayor to help create a pickleball committee to try and prevent the tennis vs pickleball issues that other local communities have experienced. Pickleball is often played on tennis courts.
The city, however, doesn’t allow it to be played within 150 feet of a residence, because it’s very loud. This rules out most Newton tennis courts, but new lines for pickleball have been added to the few courts where it can be played.
Friedman, however, felt that the ideal would be to have pickleball specific courts, and the city agreed, so six new pickleball courts will be added during the Albemarle Park renovations.