What makes a tennis court?
Sure, it’s got something to do with the quality of the net. Whether or not there are cracks in the playing surface; how the ball responds when gravity pulls it to the ground. Does it pop? Or slide? Something in between?
(Scott McIntyre / For The Athletic)
What really makes a tennis court is the people who play on it: the people, often, who are allowed to play on it. Is it members-only? Reserved for local residents? Accessible only to those with enough cash in their leisure account?
Or, can anyone bring their rackets?
This is the way it is on Pompey Park in Delray Beach, Florida, and that goes a long way toward explaining Coco Gauff — and the success of American tennis, especially among its women — over the years.
(Photo of Pompey Park: Scott McIntyre for The Athletic; Map: Drew Jordan for The Athletic)
Pompey Park is nothing special in the lexicon of epic tennis courts, in the U.S. or anywhere. This is not the storied grass of Longwood Cricket Club near Boston. Other than the color of the courts, Pompey Park has nothing in common with the behind-the-gates exclusivity of the Los Angeles Tennis Club, where Fred Perry and Don Budge played for the pleasure of Clark Gable and Marlene Dietrich.
(Scott McIntyre / For The…
