Tennis Hits the Books
Katrina Adams has a long list of firsts. She was the first African American President of the USTA. She was also the youngest, the first former professional player, and the first person to serve two consecutive terms in that role. To say that she is a trailblazer is an understatement.
Own the Arena: Getting Ahead, Making a Difference, and Succeeding as the Only One leads off with a list of 12 “Match Points” which is a succinct outline on how to thrive as the “only one.” Other sage leadership advice includes building a personal “board of directors” as a sounding board to challenge ideas and play devil’s advocate.
Adams also shares here “ABC” philosophy of leadership: Accountability, Behavior, and Communication. She is clearly a great communicator, but ironically a miscommunication was at the center of what may have been the most significant episode in her USTA tenure.
Adams was the USTA President on the day that Naomi Osaka defeated Serena Williams in the 2018 US Open Finals. Adams describes how she missed the much of the on-court controversy that occurred that day because she was moving between the President’s suite down to the court late in the second set in anticipation that Osaka was about to close out the match. The USTA President presents the trophy to the winner on behalf of the USTA, and Adams needed to be close at hand at the conclusion of the match.
The ensuing scene and aftermath is recounted in great detail and is frequently revisited throughout the book. It makes me wonder if “my words were misconstrued” was the original working title of the book. When ad-libbing her previously prepared comments for the trophy presentation, Adams started out her speech with “It’s not the outcome we were looking for…”
Those words kicked off a firestorm of media controversy and the next few days were filled with press appearances to “clarify” her own personal position and that of the USTA. Appearing to favor one player over another in the final was a bad look from a PR perspective. It would have been impossible to omit those fateful words and the entire episode in her memoir. However, it was a surprise to see them repeated as a recurring theme throughout the book.
Own the Arena doesn’t shy away from the topic of race in America or how tennis has always been a predominately white sport. Adams describes her early playing days in detail and the efforts of her parents to shield her from racism as well as her own efforts to “fit in.” She believes that she was always regarded as a “special talent” because she was black. In her own words, had she been born white she would have been considered to be simply one of the girls.
It was hardly a surprise when Adams was named as the USTA president because she had been groomed for the position for years. In 1998 the US Olympic Committee mandated that the National Governing Boards of all sports include elite athletes among their directors. A few years later, Adams was named to the USTA Grievance Committee to represent that constituency which kicked off her rise through the USTA organization.
Surprisingly, Own the Arena also revealed that Adams hasn’t always had a good opinion of the USTA. She was candid that she previously viewed the organization as a bureaucracy that didn’t care about the athletes. That perspective likely stemmed from the fact that in 2002 while working as a USTA Coach, her position was eliminated as a part of a reorganization. That episode is described in eerie similarity to the same action the USTA took recently with the player development program in 2020.
In addition to my obvious interest in tennis books, I am also an avid reader of many other subjects, including organizational development and leadership. What piqued my original interest in Own the Arena was to see what advice and observations would be shared. Adams more than delivered in that regard. The fact that the book also provides a window into the inner machinations of the USTA on a wide range of novel topics is icing on the cake.
Own the Arena: Getting Ahead, Making a Difference, and Succeeding as the Only One is valuable as a business leadership book while simultaneously providing a tremendous amount of insight into the USTA as an organization. It is one of those books that is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the culture and operation of the USTA.
 | Own the Arena: Getting Ahead, Making a Difference, and Succeeding as the Only One |
