2/26/25

Announcing 2025 Garden City Tennis Series Sponsorships

The Fifth Annual Garden City Tennis Series will take place August 15 through September 15 at Newton North High School in Newton, MA. 

The Friends of Newton Tennis (FoNT) is organizing these community events in collaboration with the City of Newton Department of Parks, Recreation and Culture, the United States Tennis Association and Hall of Fame Harvard tennis coach Dave Fish.

With more than 250 players, the series is multiple tournaments for all ages, genders and levels from novice to high performance. Collectively, it is considered one of the largest community tournament in New England

Many of last year's sponsors participated because they wanted to see an increase in foot traffic and more exposure to tennis players and fans in the greater Newton area.  A sponsorship in 2025 promises to enable eastern Massachusetts small to large companies to see similar outcomes. 

The United States Tennis Association and the City of Newton Mayor's Office are in agreement that Friends of Newton Tennis's Garden City Tennis Series is critical to growing the tennis locally:

- The USTA says: "We were happy to once again support this year’s Garden City Championships, one of the largest community-run tournaments in New England."

- Mayor Ruthanne Fuller asserts: “FoNT (tennis series organizer) is the role model for positive, hard work that makes a difference in the life of city residents. And they do this in a way that builds community.”

Sponsorship of the Garden City Tennis Series, August 15 - September 15, provides area businesses with a terrific opportunity to market to tennis players and fans.

For more information, go to www.gardencitytenniseries.com

Sudbury River Team Wins Inaugural Short Court Championships  

More than 30 players participated in the Inaugural Spec Tennis Short Court Championships at Longfellow Wellesley Tennis and Health Club this past weekend.

Per Gyllstrom. and Neal Mackertich of the Sudbury River Tennis Club (Framingham, MA) won the Advanced Division in a dogfight over another Sudbury River team Bill Flynn and Scott Duffy., 4-3, 3-4, 4-3

Third Place went to Bob Weiss and Derrek Shulman of the Needham Tennis Club.

Winners of the Intermediate Division were Paul Gardner and Tony Nakhle, who are regulars with Boston Metro Spec Tennis Club.  Gardner and Nakhle defeated father and son team Chas and Joe Luca.

This event is a new wrinkle on the popular Sunday round robin run by the Boston Metro Spec Tennis Club, started at the McGrath West courts by Friends of Newton Tennis president Tom Friedman, Dave Fish and Chas Luca.

Spec Tennis short-court game is a fast-paced, paddle game with a soft orange dot tennis ball that follows regular tennis rules.  It is played on pickleball courts or within regular tennis court service boxes.  In the Boston area,  more than 300 players have played at least once or more in the past year. 

To learn about the Boston Metro Spec Tennis Club weekly round robins, go to www.meetup.com/newton-tennis-meetup-group/

To learn more about Spec Tennis, go to www.spectennis.com

Official sponsors:  Boston Ski & Tennis, Friends of Newton Tennis,  Longfellow Health Clubs and Garden City Tennis Series

Winter is a Time to Reflect on Tennis 

We are lucky to play tennis in a city that has 65 public tennis courts (including five excellent clay courts).

Unfortunately, after the winter freeze and thaw cycles, more than half of the public courts end up in various states of disrepair and require maintenance.  That’s where The Friends of Newton Tennis comes in . . . 

Founded in 2007, the Friends of Newton Tennis (FoNT) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit community tennis association affiliated with the United States Tennis Association (USTA). 

We like to tell people “we fix tennis courts.”   But that’s just one piece of our story. 

Here are highlights of our big and small (often overlooked) accomplishments since 2022:

1. Raised $80,000 from individual tennis players, city businesses and USTA grants;
2. Led the effort to resurface 32 hard courts, including aging Newton North and South High school courts;
3. Scrutinized every square inch of the city’s 65 courts annually to help the city prioritize repairs and improvements;
4. Co-organized the Garden City Singles and Doubles Championships - the largest community tournament in New England - with the city Parks, Recreation and Culture Department (PRC);
5. Launched the Garden City Junior Challengers to enable children from Eastern Massachusetts to learn the basics of match play in the summer;
6. Developed a proposal for the city to upgrade lights at Newton South.
7. Advised the city on the development of 6 new pickleball courts at Albemarle Fields

Yes, our volunteer-based, non-profit group has led the charge for tennis players in Newton, but we could accomplish so much more with your support! 

Strength in numbers: 

As our paid membership numbers grow, so does our voice at city hall and elsewhere within the city. You can help us be more impactful by rejoining The Friends of Newton Tennis. 

Your payment options:

1) Click here for secure and quick credit or debit payment;

2) Send a check for $75 to The Friends of Newton Tennis Inc., 50 Verndale Road, Newton, MA 02461;

3)  If you wish to go further in supporting Tennis in Newton, please feel free to make an additional donation - The Friends of Newton Tennis now accepts direct donations from Donor Advised Funds.

Plus . . . Special Gift:

When you become a new FoNT member or renew your membership, you will receive a royal blue, moisture-wicking crew-neck T-shirt with a white FoNT logo!

We look forward to seeing you again on any of the city’s 65 public courts in the Spring or at one of our tournaments in the Summer or Fall.

11/12/24

FoNT Donates $20K to the  City of Newton

Friends of Newton Tennis donated $20,000 for fixing tennis courts to the City of Newton on November 12.

Held at the newly resurfaced Bobby Braceland Park in Newton Upper Falls, the check-passing ceremony included  Mayor Ruthanne Fuller. Parks, Rec and Culture Commissioner Nicole Banks and City Council President Marc Laredo. More than 20 FoNT members and supporters also attended. 

The $20,000 donation was raised from 2024 Garden City Tennis Championships Series players fees and sponsorships, individual donations and FoNT memberships.  Over the past four years, FoNT has donated $80,000 to the City of Newton for repair, maintenance and resurfacing of the city's 60 municipal tennis hard courts.

9/23/24

Garden City Championships Concludes with Six Finals

The Newton, MA-based Garden City Singles and Doubles Championships held three weekends of co-ed competition in August and September. 

In its fourth year, the largest municipal tennis tournament in New England offered six level-based divisions and attracted 253 registered novice to high performance players of all ages.  Organized by The Friends of Newton Tennis (a USTA Community Tennis Association non-profit)  and City of Newton Department of Parks, Recreation and Culture. 

The tournament, held at the 10-court Newton North High School tennis complex, is a competition and a fundraiser for fixing Newton’s 62 hard tennis courts.  It is supported by a USTA New England Tennis and Education Foundation grant in honor of Isadore Singer (former MIT math professor, Newton resident and avid tennis player). 

Garden City Championships Finals Results:

$1,500 High Performance Singles  (August 16-18, 2024)

Alex Baez (Concord, MA) over Sam Feldman (Brown University and Brookline, MA) 6-2, 3-6 and 1-0 (10-4)

$1,500 Isadore Singer Cup High Performance Doubles (September 7, 2024)

Alan Dubrovsky (Boston, MA)  and Christian Heaney-Secord (Westwood, MA) over Alex Baez (Concord, MA) and Jackson Rich (Wayland, MA), 8-4

June Ferestien Cup Elite Women’s Doubles (September 7, 2024)

First Place: Lisa Tholen (Medford, MA) and Mette Sigmundstad (Newton, MA) 

Second Place: Jolie Zink (Newton, MA) and Maddie Driscoll (Brookline, MA

(Note: June Ferestien Cup named after Newton resident who played on WTA tour.) 

Advanced Doubles (September 8, 2024)

Leonardo Brezzi (Colby-Sawyer College, NH) and Ashton Meuse (Colby-Sawyer College, NH ) over Shea McCarthy (Lynnfield, MA) and Ausin Yim (Newburyport, MA)  8-6

Intermediate Doubles (September 14, 2024)

James Ding (Wellesley, MA)  and Albert Huang (Newton, MA) over Xiyuan Li (Boston, MA) and Gu Chang (Newton, MA), 6-3 

Novice Doubles (September 14, 2024)

Asaf Sinay (Newton, MA) and Adi Sinay (Newton, MA) over Zeyang Wang (Newton, MA) and Shawn Huang (Newton, MA), 7-6 (7-2)

Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024

Newton North Tennis Complex Has New Weekday Parking Restrictions

With the start of the school year, there are some heightened restrictions in place for Tiger Drive.

The driveway to the school is closed for public use through 4:30pm on school days except for people with a handicapped parking placard/plate. I

Parking is available along Hull St. and Lowell Ave. during this time.=

Newly Resurfaced Courts Open

The City of Newton Department Parks, Recreation and Culture has re-opened the Newton Highlands Playground and and Bobby Braceland bank of two courts.  This follows a resurfacing of the courts, which are now equal in any respects to the US Open courts used by the top men and women professionals. 

Want to learn more about the value of children’s casual match play? 

Tune into this panel discussion with Dave Fish, former Harvard men's varsity coach, Sophie Wax, co-captain of the Tufts University women's team, and Dickie Herbst, former ATP Player and USTA national junior development coach.

FoNT Panel Recording (start at 1 min)
Panel AI Summary

Newton South Court Resurfacing Completed

Sports Tek Athletic Surfaces, Newton’s tennis court repair and maintenance vendor, has finished resurfacing eight hard courts at Newton South High School in early July.  This work completes crack repair, repainting, and relining of the 12 courts, four of which were finished last fall. 

This $165,000 project represents the latest initiative by the City of Newton Department of Parks, Recreation and Culture and the Mayor’s Office to safeguard the largest bank of high school tennis courts in the Greater Boston area. 

Situated in a large wetland in the South Meadow Brook watershed, the Newton South courts crack frequently due to hydrostatic pressure and winter freezing and thawing cycles of the wetland.  In addition, the ability to make repairs to the foundation is limited due to the stormwater pipe system beneath the courts.

Furthermore, when courts were replaced in 2017, the asphalt paving vendor laid down seams east-west across the width of the courts on both sides of the net, resulting in structural weaknesses. On asphalt courts, north-south seams running vertically between courts are the gold standard. 

In the future, whenever the city deems the courts at their end of life and requiring full replacement, it will consider state-of-the-art post-tensioned concrete courts with a 20-year no-crack warranty. Lexington and Framingham have installed post-tensioned concrete courts in the past year, and the Needham Select Board is considering a $2 million replacement of its high school courts. 

In a letter dated March 29, 2024, The Friends of Newton Tennis recommended that the City Council prioritize $165,000 in funding for crack repair, resurfacing, and relining of  Newton South High School courts. The funds come from a combination of the city’s tennis instructional revenues, FoNT’s annual donation, and the Parks, Recreation and Culture revolving account. Other repairs in the pipeline include fixing cracks and net anchors at Newton North and fixing cracks and surface issues at Cabot Park.

Friends of Newton Tennis has finished its 2024 Court Audit of Newton's 65 Hard and Clay Courts and presented it to the Department of Parks, Recreation and Culture. Thank you to the volunteers who helped compile this year’s in-depth audit, which helps the city set maintenance and repair priorities.

Getting in Tennis Shape 

Garden City Tennis Series sponsorship partner Cardio High Fitness offers tennis players a unique interval training program designed by a tennis player. The program improves speed, strength, endurance and range of motion. Click here to try a free class or email info@cardiohigh.com for more details.

How We Get Things Done

When you receive an email from FoNT about membership, year-end donations, or tennis tournaments, please respond by joining, giving funds (of any amount), or registering to play.  

Since 2021, this combination of grassroots fundraising has allowed FoNT to contribute $60,000 to repair and maintain city courts (including resurfacing, nets, net poles, and center straps), purchase windscreens for the high schools and some parks, and schedule special events (such as our 2022 Family Tennis Festival and annual Garden City Doubles Championships). 

More importantly, our grassroots fundraising demonstrates to city officials that FoNT is a cohesive community of racquet sports enthusiasts who value their municipal courts. This community interest becomes important when the City Council appropriates funds for capital-intensive racquet sports projects (such as court resurfacing at Newton North and South high schools and proposed pickleball courts at Albemarle Park). 

As Mayor Ruthanne Fuller said at our November 2023 check-passing ceremony,

“FoNT is the role model for positive, hard work that makes a difference in the life of city residents. And you do this in a way that builds community.”  

So, please give what you can to support tennis in Newton. Your contribution makes a huge difference.

Link to membership/donations 

Want to get involved?

The Friends of Newton Tennis are always looking for individuals who want to support and grow tennis in Newton. If you are interested in helping with any of the tournaments or our other work (e.g., fundraising, membership, communications, annual court audit, advocacy for tennis and other racquet sports), please email Tom Friedman at thomasharoldf@gmail.com