Now in its fourth year, the ATX Open showcases world-class women’s tennis in Austin, driving both local and national growth in the sport’s participation.<\/p>\n
Now in its fourth year, the ATX Open has quickly become one of Austin\u2019s signature sporting events, bringing world-class women\u2019s tennis to Westwood Country Club through March 1.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The tournament is a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 250 event on the 2026 WTA Tour, drawing stars including Venus Williams and thousands of fans to its outdoor hard courts.<\/p>\n
The event is run by Drop Shot Series in partnership with the Capital Area Tennis Association (CATA) and USTA Texas, part of a broader push to grow the sport at every level.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really was and kind of still is a homegrown effort to bring professional tennis to the Austin area. said Jessica McMillen, director of development for CATA. “We started with over 300 local volunteers for our ushers, our ball kids, our drivers, our player relations, and the community just really embraced it.\u201d<\/p>\n
McMillen said the tournament has seen \u201chuge growth\u201d in attendance and fan activations since its debut, and it \u201ccontinues to get bigger and better every year.\u201d CATA, which McMillen calls the \u201cgrassroots provider for all programming in Central Texas,\u201d now offers opportunities for players \u201cfrom 6 to 106 years old,\u201d including beginner classes, adult leagues, junior tournaments and junior team tennis.<\/p>\n
CATA expects adult participation to keep climbing this year, with McMillen saying its \u201con track to have over 17,000 adult registrations for tournaments and leagues,\u201d along with about 1,000 children each year in junior team tennis and a similar number in junior tournaments.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That local growth mirrors what\u2019s happening nationwide. U.S. tennis participation has climbed to about 27.3 million players after six straight years of growth, according to the USTA, which has set a goal of reaching 35 million players by 2035. The national \u201c35 by \u201935\u201d strategy focuses on keeping new and returning players on the court for life and expanding access to courts and coaching around the country.<\/p>\n
McMillen said the ATX Open helps inspire the next generation of players by bringing them courtside to see the sport at its highest level.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe invite all of the local coaches to bring their kids out to see professional tennis firsthand,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is kind of an aspirational and inspiring event, but we also try to connect with our coaches.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
McMillen said USTA National\u2019s new \u201cUSTA Coaching\u201d program helps remove barriers for anyone who wants to become a teaching professional or a parent who hopes to captain a junior team.<\/p>\n
Off the court, the ATX Open has grown into a full fan experience. McMillen said the tournament offers autograph signings with players along with sponsor activations and themed days for families and children. This year\u2019s schedule has included a large children’s and family day with the Andy Roddick Foundation and Boys & Girls Clubs, on-court activities with local partner Racket Lifestyle, and interactive moments like a tennis player serving ice cream from an Amy\u2019s Ice Creams truck.<\/p>\n
But the rapid growth in participation has exposed a major challenge for Austin\u2019s tennis community: there aren\u2019t enough courts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re experiencing an extreme court shortage,\u201d McMillen said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She noted that CATA and its partners are working to expand access by refurbishing existing courts, adding lighting so people can play after dark. McMillen said CATA is also collaborating with USTA Texas and USTA National on court expansion proposals and is eager to partner with anyone interested in health, wellness and community infrastructure.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe future is extremely bright. We\u2019ve just got to get more courts built here in Austin,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
For those who have never picked up a racket, McMillen points newcomers to the CATA website<\/a>, where they can find beginner-friendly options like Red Ball programs that use softer balls and smaller courts, all the way up to competitive leagues and tournaments.\u00a0<\/p>\n McMillen said CATA is also asking for community support to help meet the demand for more places to play.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you’re able and willing, you’ll see a bright red donate button if you’re interested in helping us with our mission to make Austin the greatest community in the country through tennis,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n As for the ATX Open itself, matches run through March 1 at Westwood Country Club, with daytime and evening sessions, fan zones, autograph sessions and sponsor activations. Tournament and ticket information is available here<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Now in its fourth year, the ATX Open showcases world-class women’s tennis in Austin, driving both local and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177918,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":{"0":"post-177917","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-austin","8":"tag-austin","9":"tag-austin-headlines","10":"tag-austin-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177917\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}