As the College Tennis Ball Bounces

The 2024-2025 college tennis season closed in mid-May with a series of good bounces. Wake Forest captured the DI men’s team championships, and Georgia won the DI women’s crown. There were also some bad bounces related to off-court issues. The following paragraphs highlight both.

Team Championships

Wake Forest captured their second team championship with a 4-2 win over defending champion TCU in the 2025 men’s finals. In the semifinals, Wake Forest defeated Stanford 4-2.

In the DII finals, Valdosta defeated Washburn 4-2, and at the DIII level, Dennison defeated Claremont.

In the women’s championships, Georgia was untouchable. In the quarterfinals, they beat Duke 4-1. They won all other matches 4-0, including the finals match over Texas A&M and their semifinal victory over North Carolina. The Bulldogs avenged a loss to the Aggies last season and captured their third national title.

In DII, Barry continues to dominate. They outlasted the 2024 champion, Nova Southeastern, 4-3. They won their ninth national championship and seventh title since 2017. In DIII play, WashU won its first championship with a 4-3 victory over Pomona-Pitzer.

Individual Championships

Historically, the NCAA individual championships have been held in May. As a result of a two-year trial, the individual championships were held at the end of the fall season (November 2024).

In the men’s DI title match, Michael Zheng of Columbia defeated Ozan Baris of Michigan State, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2. Dasha Vidmanova won the women’s DI championship with a 6-3,6-3 victory over DJ Bennett, Auburn.

Off the Courts – Some Bad Bounces   

For the past decade, participation in college tennis programs has trended downward. The decline has been most notable in men’s DI and DII programs. Participation in the men’s DIII and women’s DI, DII, and DIII programs has been flat.

The bad bounces affecting the sport are listed below:

• The well-intended NIL program has some unintended consequences.

• The transfer portal.

• The upcoming $2.8 billion NCAA antitrust settlement.

• Possible limitations on the number of athletes allowed in a program.

• Limiting the number of international players.

Creative leaders may be able to convert these challenges into good bounces.

The top revenue generators in athletic programs will likely receive good bounces. The success of college programs depends on whether they are a debit or a credit on the books and how they contribute to compliance with Title IX. Playing for the love of sport has become an archaic notion.

In some instances, women's sports will benefit from situations related to Title IX compliance. UT Arlington added women's golf, and the Minnesota Vikings partnered with six NCAA schools to start a women's flag football league that began in April 2025.

At the other end of the spectrum, UTEP dropped its women's tennis program because of the rising costs of scholarships, general program expenses, the lack of a university facility, and the overall budget. In another situation, Metropolitan State College of Denver dropped both tennis teams "to focus limited resources on its remaining varsity sports so they can continue to thrive."

There will continue to be bad bounces in the future for college tennis. How can they be converted to good bounces? Could the D1 schools with established facilities and a strong financial foundation align in defined conferences? Would it be possible for a consortium of private sector companies to develop a college program that would truly serve as a farm system for the professional game? Could the ITA, RSPA, PTR, and USTA work together to develop programs and incentives to encourage college tennis players to become teaching professionals?

International Players

In early May, Senator Jeremy Stine of Louisiana introduced state legislation to limit the number of athletic scholarships awarded to international students to 25% of the available scholarships.

Right or wrong, the intent is to create more opportunities for American athletes.

This topic is like a bad penny. It keeps bouncing back. Nationally, previous efforts to limit the number of international college tennis players were unsuccessful. The federal government may restrict student visas for international students to reduce the number of international tennis players.

International tennis players are assets to college tennis programs for the following reasons.

• Tennis is an individual sport played internationally.

• The USTA player development program does not produce enough elite players to fill all scholarship positions.

• Most foreign athletes are proficient in multiple languages. They are motivated and have a strong work ethic. Their goal is to get a diploma.

• International players increase the diversity of the programs they play in.

Table I shows that soccer, tennis, and track and field had the most international men and women first-year international athletes in the NCAA report released in September 2023, https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/research/demographics/2023RES_ISATrendsDivSprt.pdf.

Table II shows that most international athletes are from Canada and the United Kingdom. It also shows there was typically a decline because of the COVID-19 epidemic. Is that a permanent or temporary decline? Depending on a person’s perspective, the number of foreign players in Tables I and II may be excessive or insignificant.

College Tennis Matters

Companies look to college business schools to train accountants and managers, while healthcare businesses rely on medical schools to train doctors, dentists, nurses, and other staff. Aerospace, manufacturing, and technology companies work with engineering schools to provide well-trained engineers and technicians.

Tennis leaders can learn from the success of other industries!

It would be a good bounce for the sport if the ITA, RSPA, PTR, and USTA cooperated to address the challenges facing college tennis.  In addition, they should collaborate to build on the tennis knowledge gained by college tennis athletes to develop a world-class workforce for the tennis industry.

It is essential to have the best and the brightest tennis teaching professionals for the tennis industry to achieve its 35 X35 goal (35 million players by 2035).

In addition, Gary Horvath has conducted extensive business and economic research that has largely supported the state of Colorado's economic development efforts.