The Racquet Club of Memphis was a private

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

club in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. The club was formed in 1974 as an expansion of the Memphis Athletic Club. An

ATP Tour The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organis ...

tournament, later called the

Regions Morgan Keegan Championships In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

came to the club in 1976 and was given an elevated "500" status in 2008. The increased status brought higher caliber players, a higher prize package and more points to the players. The change took effect in 2009. A 5,000-seat stadium was constructed in 1984. The club features 27 total courts: 11 indoor and 16 outdoor. During its later years, the ATP tournament was joined by a

WTA Tour The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour. WTA Tour tourna ...

event, the

Cellular South Cup Cellular may refer to: *Cellular automaton, a model in discrete mathematics *Cell biology, the evaluation of cells work and more * ''Cellular'' (film), a 2004 movie *Cellular frequencies, assigned to networks operating in cellular RF bands *Cellu ...

. The final tournament played at the club was in 2017. In 2008, Golden Set Holdings LLC and San Jose, California-based Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (now

Sharks Sports and Entertainment Sharks Sports & Entertainment (SSE) is the privately held parent company of the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League. Based in San Jose, California, SSE not only oversees all areas of operation for the Sharks but also for several sports ...

) purchased the Racquet Club, the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and Cellular South Cup from the previous owner, Mac Winker, and renovated. In 2009, The Racquet Club of Memphis officially became the home for men's and women's tennis at the

University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...

. In November 2018, the ownership group of the Racquet Club sent a letter to its members, announcing the facility's closure.

''‘’While the Club has continued to attract committed, high level players, their numbers have declined while the options for local play have increased, and there is no longer a Tournament in place. In this context, the Club’s business model is not sustainable given the needed capital expenditures and prospect of operating losses. We are pursuing another use of The Racquet Club property that can make this twelve-acre site once again special for Memphis.’’''

The Racquet Club continued operating until the spring of 2019, when the University of Memphis' tennis teams completed their schedule, and the club closed weeks after.

References

External links

Official site
Sports venues in Memphis, Tennessee Tennis venues in the United States 1974 establishments in Tennessee Tennis clubs {{Tennessee-sports-venue-stub

See also

References

External links