McLeland Tennis Center in Fort Worth offers new league, makeover

The new management at McLeland Tennis Center has announced a new adult league to begin next week and is working to upgrade the facility on the near South Side of Fort Worth.

Starting Tuesday the tennis center will have a Singles to Doubles Adult League, which will compete on Tuesday nights for four weeks. Matches will begin at 6:30 p.m. and cost $20 for the four-week program.

Players will play an eight-game pro set of singles, then team up with their singles opponent to play an eight-game pro set of doubles against another team. McLeland will provide new balls. The league is open to players rated 3.5 or above. To sign up call the front desk at 817-921-5134.

McLeland general manager Alex Maldonado said more classes and leagues are in the works and his team is beginning to make improvements at the facility, with help from the city.

“We’re eventually going to be adding twice as many adult classes,” Maldonado said. “We’re going to have actually classes and drills, and a complete new junior program, like the one we just finished last week.

Maldonado said the new Tuesday night league was a result of feedback from a Facebook survey,

“We’re excited about the league we’re starting Tuesday,” he said. “A lot of people have shown interest, and it was one of the things they requested. We’ve got a lot of positive feedback. We’re still not at 100 percent with all the programs we want to have in the future, but we’re looking at a lot more.”

Maldonado’s main focus has been on making improvements to the facility, which features 14 outdoor courts and two climate-controlled indoor courts, located at 1600 W. Seminary Drive in Rosemont Park.

“We’re making a lot of changes,” Maldonado said. “We’re making improvements in the clubhouse with more modern lighting, moving the desk area and adding granite countertops. We’ll also have a lot of clothing and rackets and strings. We’ve got a long, long way to go, but people keep coming in saying how nice and clean the place looks. Right now, all I see is a lot more work to do.”

One key area for Maldonado is improving the outdoor lighting so more courts can be used at night.

“We just want to get the facility back in good working order,” Madonado said. “The city’s been real helpful.”

McLeland will hold a relaunch party Oct. 22 at the facility that will including bounce houses for kids as well as free tennis activities for all ages.

Women’s sectionals

The women’s 4.0 team from Wagon Wheel Tennis Center in Coppell, representing Fort Worth, won the USTA Texas 40-and-over sectional championship last week at The Club at Sonterra in San Antonio. The team earned a berth to the national tournament in La Quinta, Calif., on Oct. 28-30.

The Coppell-based team is captained by Nycole Vu and includes Julie Bradley, Denise Lu, Trish Chandler, Suzanne Feldman, Martha Davis, Mimi Tran, Becky Murphy, Maureen McCaffrey, Patricia Arvanitis, Denise Lytle, Heather Bartzen, Kathleen Motlagh, Nidia Bridges, Joann Burke, Roz Erlewein, Linda Quinones, Cheryl Rothrock, Maggie Barton and Yvon Pho.

The WAG Vu team finished the spring league with an 8-0 record to advance to sectionals after losing only six of 32 individual matches as a team.

This story was originally published October 1, 2016 at 7:28 PM with the headline "McLeland Tennis Center in Fort Worth offers new league, makeover."