Anyone know of celebrities, or people famous for something other than tennis, who enter adult tennis competitions? Best example I know of is Kyle Whittingham (long time U of Utah head football coach), who played USTA 4.0 league a few years ago. Who's playing in the Hollywood leagues?
Famous people playing adult leagues or tournaments?
- Thread starter TennisOTM
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silverwyvern4
Semi-Pro
They probably play inhouse leagues at country clubs with $80,000 initiation fees, not USTA leagues.
King_olaf_the_hairy
Semi-Pro
Going back a fair way, but Academy Award-winner Ginger Rogers played in the mixed doubles of the 1950 US Nationals with future Hall of Famer Frank Shields (also known for being Brooke Shields' grandpa).[Source]
S&V-not_dead_yet
Talk Tennis Guru
A friend told me he played against Landon Donovan [soccer]; said the guy didn't have great form but could run down just about anything.
schmke
Legend
There are a number of threads here on the subject. One here with a former NFL punter who went to 3.5 Nationals: https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...13-is-it-too-late.630663/page-4#post-12889111
Then there is golfer Matt Kuchar who did play tennis growing up and played in the Husband-Wife National Clay Court Championships with his wife who played college tennis at Georgia Tech. They won the consolation title: https://www.pgatour.com/news/2009/1...gatour.com/news/2009/10/26/kucharstennis.html
Then there is golfer Matt Kuchar who did play tennis growing up and played in the Husband-Wife National Clay Court Championships with his wife who played college tennis at Georgia Tech. They won the consolation title: https://www.pgatour.com/news/2009/1...gatour.com/news/2009/10/26/kucharstennis.html
Scott Hartnell (longtime Philadelphia Flyer and Nashville Predator) joined the South Jersey 4.0 40+ league this year. Dave Spadaro (Philadelphia Eagles social media director) has a 4.0 rating and has frequently played in the 4.0 league, although I don't think he's in it this year. Melissa Stark (longtime ESPN reporter) plays as a 4.5 in Eastern NJ under her married name. Dave Leno (play-by-play for ESPN college sports and Philadelphia Union soccer) plays in the Philly district 4.0 league.
PrinceMoron
Legend
I have played some Premier League goalies
they all bounce up and down when you are trying to serve, just makes you laugh
they all bounce up and down when you are trying to serve, just makes you laugh
heftylefty
Hall of Fame
One of my mixed dubs partner played Shue in a singles USTA tournament, without realizing who she is. My partner won in straights.
Nice. Looks like Hartnell got a 3.89 match rating (Tennisrecord) in his first league match (singles) the other day. He's already better than me haha.
Shaolin
Talk Tennis Guru
That's really cool. Yeah I read she was obsessed with tennis so prob played a lot of USTA. Don't think futures worked out too well for her though. I think she was like age 40 or 45 attempting to play them.
innoVAShaun
G.O.A.T.
Couldn't find his rating though...
NumbersGuy
Rookie
There's a Jeff Conine in Florida who played 55+ in 2021 (born 1966), who I suspect is the former MLB pitcher. Had a pretty impressive record in 2020-21 as a self-rated 3.5.
innoVAShaun
G.O.A.T.
ChaelAZ
G.O.A.T.
Kinda funny. Shaun T (Famous fitness trainer) lives and plays tennis tourneys here in AZ and a lot of times no one even realizes it. Nicest guys, just hangs out like anyone else would, talking, watching, and playing. Haven't seen him for a bit myself, but I also haven't been to many tourneys lately. And not adult leagues or tourneys, but when I was working at the Arizona Biltmore years ago I got to see and hit with celebrities all the time. That was kinda cool.
FiddlerDog
Hall of Fame
Look how he casually holds the racket between his index and middle finger.
innoVAShaun
G.O.A.T.
No rating
innoVAShaun
G.O.A.T.
No rating
stapletonj
Hall of Fame
a former boston celtic used to hang around van der meer's and played pickup tennis all the time.
goodracket
New User
Darrell Steinberg, Sacramento Mayor, USTA 4.0.
He was married (or engaged maybe) to Jennifer Caprioti at one point, right?No rating
Donuts & Deadlifts
Rookie
Cliff Lee played a season or 2 of mixed with his wife
travlerajm
Talk Tennis Guru
Back when I was junior, our WA state governor at the time, Booth Gardener, used to participate in 4.0 and 4.5 tournaments.
Turbo-87
G.O.A.T.
He was a left fielder/first baseman. Never a pitcher. I remember meeting him as a kid when he was with the Royals.
Nice, I remember his brief but awesome stint with the Red Sox. Looks like he just went 3-0 playing singles in a 4.5 18+ league at age 48, impressive.
bcart1991
Professional
That's cool. Where are you from? I remember him playing at LSU. Went out with his sister a time or two also lol.
I play in Mandeville/Covington. Todd plays on teams out of Shreveport. I saw him last year in Little Rock for Sectionals.
heftylefty
Hall of Fame
That is very very cool! I am a huge Commodores fan. ( dating myself) When did you play him?
Awesome, seems like this must be him: https://www.tennisrecord.com/adult/profile.aspx?playername=William King
Looks like he's a solid 4.0 at age 73.
jmc3367
Rookie
it was 2019 at a fast 4 event in Johns Creek
jmc3367
Rookie
that's him.
Biologydropout
New User
Larry “Chipper” Jones was playing 6.0 mixed a few years back outside Atlanta. Would love to know how the self rate committee justifies that.
schmke
Legend
Only went 3-3 playing Mixed, must have been sandbagging ...
If he and his wife/gf or whatever decided to take up tennis together and had never played before, I could easily see how he could be a 3.5 and her a 2.5 as a 6.0 combo.
Found his last team on Tennislink - he was a 3.0. Still reasonable as a 50yo guy who had never played, even he was a world-class athlete in his youth?
He has barely played but his partner has since improved, she is now a high-end 3.5.
I assume his partner is his wife. It looks like she started as 2.5, so it wouldn't have mattered if he rated himself 3.0 or 3.5. I'd think (especially as a baseball player), he'd pick up tennis pretty quickly if he played a lot and wouldn't be 3.0, but it looks like she has made tennis a regular sport while he just goes out and plays with her occasionally, so it's probably not unreasonable to think he could legit be 3.0.
Talking Baseball & Tennis with Chipper Jones, Charleston Pro Tournament with Bob Moran - Talking Tennis Southern Style | iHeart
<p><img src= 'https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/show/262259/jones_chipper_moran_bob_gonzalez_tres_1170x585.jpg' alt='Chipper Jones, Bob Moran, Tres Gonzalez' width='1170' height= '585' /><br /> <br /></p> <p>Sports experts agree that playing more than one sport improves an athlete’s performance...
happyandbob
Legend
I've played USTA league against Mike MacDougal -- former KC Royals closer who could throw a baseball 100 mph
Nice! How fast is his serve?
Looks like he's a solid 4.0 if I found the right guy (playing in PA).
happyandbob
Legend
Yes, that’s him. Not sure what his flat serve looks like, I only got a steady diet of wicked top-slice serves. Big benders that crossed from one side of the service box to the other.
maybe I wasn’t good enough to deserve a heater!
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