The United States Tennis Association (USTA)put the shovels in the ground Wednesday on its brand new headquarters and tennis complex in Lake Nona. It will be a massive 63 acre facility that is being billed by the USTA and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer as the new "American home for tennis."

"The USTA's new home of American tennis will be one of the true anchors for the sports cluster here in our region, and I truly believe we can claim our title as sports capital of the world."

The plans call for more than 100 courts, a place for junior tennis players in training to live, and will host the new USTA headquarters once they move from New York. USTA Executive Director Gordon Smith says it will host tournaments like the NCAA Championships, regional tournaments, and more, plus training for Orlando area players.

"Imagine this: we are going to have 32 hard courts and 32 clay courts. We could play the first round of two 64 draw tournaments at the same time."

No tennis complex like this has ever been built in the United States. Tavistock CEO Rasesh Thakkar will lease the land to USTA for a dollar a year. He told the hundreds assembled for the ground breaking that a new cluster is planned for the area, similar to the one building around medical city in Lake Nona. Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs gave us a sneak preview of what a sports cluster in Lake Nona might be like.

"Tennis equipment, tennis clothing, all of those types of industries. We also anticipate will come here because this is huge. This is the largest training complex in the United States."

Construction on the complex is starting right away and will be complete by the fourth quarter of 2016.

 

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