We are all immensely grateful for the gift of tennis in our lives. Dennis Van der Meer established the Professional Tennis Registry Foundation (PTRF) in 1978 to make the gift of tennis accessible to everyone worldwide. To keep Dennis’ vision and mission alive, please consider donating to the non-profit PTRF. Your gift and Dennis’ gift to all of us will bring this remarkable sport within reach to countless people worldwide.

Dr. Jim Loehr

2023 Donation Goal – $100,000

17%

We have an ambition to help you, but we can’t do it alone.

Our International Master Pro, Delaine Mast and her JP McCaskey boys’ and girls’ high school tennis teams hosted a free tennis festival for NTM. What a fantastic way to teach the high school kids to give back. Delaine, you’re an amazing coach and a role model!!

On the West Coast, we followed the USTA’s guidelines to celebrate NTM. The guidelines were very helpful and easy to follow. Saratoga, California was proclaimed May as NTM. We partnered with USTA NorCal and the PTR to conduct a free tennis clinic for the Saratoga and nearby communities. Paige and Caitlyn at the PTR helped us with liability insurance and market our event. Keith Adams, Troy Rondeau, Chris Samuel and Joe Hermann volunteered to teach the clinic. Jerry Wang attended the clinic with his daughter, Ava and sent us this note:

“Thank you so much PTRF for hosting the National Tennis Month tennis clinic! My daughter, Ava and I really enjoyed it and are very glad we went. We kept telling each other how nice it was, especially for a free event. Sorry we were too tired to stay until the end. We have practiced a couple times already, keeping your feedback in mind, and are now even trying to approach the net to volley sometimes when we practice. The drills and games were a lot of fun and the coaching feedback was really helpful. We learned a lot and the whole event was well-coordinated.”

The PTR was the brainchild of Dennis Van der Meer who was enshrined in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, Newport, CT in 2021.

While some coaches were busy with NTM, other coaches like Curtis Holland were finishing up a successful tennis season. Curtis’s Springfield, TN High School boys’ tennis team made history by winning its first regional championship and the 11th district championship. The girls’ tennis team won their 10th district championship and third regional championship. Both boys and girls lost in the state sectionals. The Garner Street Park Tennis Complex is named after their coach of 30+ yrs, Curtis Holland Tennis Complex. Wow! What an honor! Curtis Holland is also our foundation board member.

The PTR family has outstanding mentors who make a huge impact on the lives of tennis pros around the world and inspire them to pursue their career dreams. Ajay Pant, PTR Foundation board member says, “Mentoring is being a coach in the truest sense of the word. This is not a role to be taken lightly – you can impact someone’s life and dreams.”

For nine years now, the Foundation and you have continued to make an impact in Ghana. Our PTR Pro, Robert Amartey, ran a tennis clinic at Ghana Tennis Club in Adabraka in May 2023. Kids and coaches received t-shirts, balls, bags, tennis shoes, rackets, sweat shirts and PTR coaching books donated by the PTR and the PTR Foundation. Robert, we salute your kindness, commitment and passion!!

A tennis family of twin girls in San Jose, CA celebrated their birthday in May. In lieu of presents, these amazing kids requested their friends and their parents to donate to the PTR Foundation. They raised a grand total of $500 at one birthday party! Isn’t it phenomenal? How wonderful would it be if more kids and parents in our tennis family followed this example?

May Tennis Trivia

Jimmy Connors defeated what young player in an epic, 5-set match at the 1991 U.S. Open (Connors was down 2-5 in the 5th set)?
a. Andre Agassi
b. Michael Chang
c. Jim Courier
d. Aaron Krickstein

(answer in August’s newsletter)