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Tennis Industry United (TIU) brought key industry stakeholders together at the start of the US Open to collaborate and align on growth initiatives for the sport, including National Tennis Month, Comeplay.com and other areas of opportunity. The meeting, which had about 60 people in attendance, also saw presentations on some of the latest data, insights and updates by the Racquet Industry Research Group (RIRG), USTA, Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), Tennis Channel and more.

Among the attendees were USTA CEO Craig Tiley, along with representatives from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), American Tennis Association, Asian-American Pacific Islander Tennis Association, PTR, USTA Coaching, RSI magazine, American Sports Builders Association and other industry partners, including major manufacturers.

“Our job is to lift the economics of the industry; to get more people int the industry,” Tiley said, adding that he’s been “getting to know the [USTA] sections, to understand the organization itself. Next is to get into more depth and [find] what levers to pull to align the ecosystems and our strategy. I want the organization itself to be even more integrated than it is.”

Mickey Maule, the USTA’s Managing Director for National Industry Partnerships & Growth, hosted and emcee’d the meeting. Bryan White, the executive director of the RIRG, gave distribution updates on the biweekly TIU Newsletter and presented new TIU branding, which will be rolled out in upcoming months.

Data insights were presented by Sandeep Patel, USTA Senior Director of Business Intelligence & Analytics, and Jake Weiss, USTA Director of Research & Insights, along with Alex Kerman, the SFIA’s Senior Director of Business Operations and Research. New tennis participation numbers through June 2026 show that there are now 27.6 million players in the U.S., up from 27.3 million at year-end 2025, Patel reported.

The SFIA’s Kerman said overall participation in all racquet sports is at 64 million Americans, up from 60.7 million a year before. He added that half of the tennis participation are “core” players, on court more than 10 times a year. “Category growth [for all racquet sports] remains robust,” Kerman noted, “driven by tennis, pickleball and padel, with pickleball’s meteoric growth beginning to moderate.”

Tennis Channel Senior Vice President Christina Tesauro updated the group on the latest with TC, then Dave Mullins and Whitney Wofford from the ITA discussed the state of college tennis. Patrick Briaud, the USTA’s Managing Director of Advocacy and Resource Strategy, also reported on what his department has planned. Also updating the group were USTA Coaching CEO Craig Morris and PTR CEO Lynne Rolley.

 “It was exciting to see our industry come together, yet again, for this key, collaborative meeting and to hear about the progress we’re making and opportunities ahead of us as we all work to grow this sport and industry,” said Maule. “For Tennis Industry United, our goal is clear: ‘Mobilize the Industry, Connect the Player and Grow the Game.’”