In the city that hosts the United States Open, playing the sport on a regular basis can feel like an administrative and logistical boondoggle for tennis-loving New Yorkers like myself. To paraphrase one of John McEnroe’s most famous outbursts, for recreational tennis players New York City can be the “absolute pits of the world.”
My tennis-playing friends in Los Angeles talk about leisurely games on conveniently located, freshly resurfaced public courts. Of playing year-round alongside members of the creative class, prolifically tanned tennis bums and the occasional famous person.
And when I visit relatives in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.