Once upon a time, Indianapolis had a tennis tournament. It was held at the Indianapolis Tennis Center on the IUPUI campus and I remember attending it when I was a 12-year-old NJTL player. That was the year Boris Becker won Wimbledon for the first time at the age of 17 and I remember him walking through the grounds (flanked by security) and being in awe that a guy only a few years older than me could win the biggest tennis tournament in the world.

In time, our clay court tournament converted to a hard court event and I still traveled downtown to see some of the biggest names in the game battle it out, but 10 years ago, it was painfully clear the party was over. attendance was down, the big players were no longer making a point of showing up and the last person I saw practicing on…