Next generation of Cincinnati tennis takes the court
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Cincinnati Tennis Foundation’s young players practice on Lindner Family Tennis Center courts through a partnership with the Cincinnati Open Sporting Club. Photo: Jeffrey Dean, courtesy of the Cincinnati Open Sports Club
The Cincinnati Open is over, and the next generation of local tennis players is ready to take their place.
Why it matters: The Cincinnati Tennis Foundation is getting rackets into kids' hands and giving them a chance to play on the same courts as the pros.
- Tennis is the hook, not the whole mission, with other educational resources in play.
The big picture: The foundation operates year-round across Cincinnati, introducing thousands of kids to tennis.
- CFT reached nearly 5,000 students through tennis and pickleball programs at 30 schools last year.
- The nonprofit leaves equipment behind and gives kids a place to keep playing for free.
What they're saying: "We try to just basically get kids involved in something productive, just like other sports do," founder and CEO Matt Dektas tells Axios. "But we think tennis has a great opportunity to teach life lessons."
Between the lines: The foundation pairs tennis with math, reading, financial literacy and mentorship, particularly for students from under-resourced communities.
- "Tennis is just a vehicle that we're pretty good at," Dektas says. "But it really is to get kids in to have productive daily habits and community."
Case in point: Day'Mia Seay learned to play at Withrow High School. The incoming McNicholas High School junior has since played on the Cincinnati Open courts at Lindner Family Tennis Center.
- The foundation has invested more than $270,000 in Withrow's outdoor courts and helped start tennis teams at Withrow and Spencer Center for Gifted and Exceptional Students.
- Seay received shoes from Coco Gauff, who donated $10,000 worth to the foundation last year. Gauff just won the Cincinnati Open women's title.
- "I've been given so many amazing experiences and opportunities to grow as a player," Seay tells Axios.
The intrigue: Local pros like Vignesh Gogineni and Peyton Stearns give young players a close-up look at where tennis can take them.
- "It's just nice to see up-and-coming juniors that are also, hopefully, in a couple years, playing this tournament as well," Stearns said during the Open.
- Gogineni, a Mason graduate, made his Open debut this year after previously working as a tournament hitting partner.
Through the foundation, Gogineni became a mentor to Greg Bernadsky, 18, who won two state singles titles at Mason and is playing college tennis at Cornell.
- Bernadsky credits Gogineni with showing him the habits and professionalism needed to reach another level.
- Now Bernadsky is trying to pull the next group up behind him.
"There's a lot of good younger players younger than me," he says, "and I'm trying to do the same thing as what Vignesh installed in me."