Texas Hill Country

Officially, Texas Hill Country encompasses some 25 counties in central and southern Texas, but the region of greatest interest to vacationing tennis players is a quadrant roughly defined by Marble Falls, Austin, San Antonio, and fredericksburg. It's a place of tall, rugged hills, shot through with limestone and granite and tufted with yucca, prickly pear cactus, cedar shrub, and Texas live oak. Tennis aside, the draw is a melange of natural, man-made, historic, and cultural attractions from the panoramic views atop the pink-granite dome of Enchanted Rock to Gruene Hall, Texas' oldest dance hall, in New Braunfels. It includes Austin—the "Live Music Capital of the World"—which is home to more than 100 live music venues not to mention authentic barbecue at James Beard award-winning Franklin Barbecue and year-round swimming in the spring-fed, three-acre Barton Springs pool. The lure continues at Marble Falls to the north, a region with five picturesque lakes and some of the state's top wineries—yes, wineries: the Lone Star State has more than 400 wineries, making it the nation's fifth largest wine-producing state. And if you follow the wine trail in spring you can delight in fields of bluebonnets, the state flower whose bloom Texas celebrates with a festival in April.

Sponsor

Luxury Ladies' Retreats Experience an unmatched ladies' getaway at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, CA from April 15 to 19, 2020 for a tennis retreat that offers educational drill and match-play sessions combined with first-class accommodations and delightful dining. For more information, please call 830-625-5911x208, email Katie Steck, or visit us at experiencecdt.com

Bluebonnets and other wildflowers make spring one of the most appealing times to visit. So do daytime temperatures, which are typically in the 70s and 80s—ideal for hiking, birdwatching, kayaking, golf, tennis, and other outdoor activities. It's also a time of festivals: bluebonnets aside, there are others devoted to chili, quilting, hot-air ballooning, flyfishing, and even Celtic music and dance. And on top of all that, the Texas Hill Country is home to a trio of notable tennis resorts, one of which hosts two annual fantasy camps with some of the legends of the game. So if you routinely travel with a tennis racquet, here's an overview of the best tennis the Texas Hill Country has to offer.

Sponsor

Enjoy your 4th Night Free at the new Four Seasons Resort Nevis!. A modern embodiment of the spirit and soul of the Caribbean, this beachfront oasis has been reimagined and revitalized, while remaining rooted in history and heritage. Discover a captivating combination of adventure, exploration, serenity and recreation. All that, when combined with the uniquely Nevisian hospitality, forms one perfect only-in-Nevis paradise. Tennis lovers can play at the Caribbean's No. 1 tennis centre, choosing from three different surfaces and programs managed by Peter Burwash International. For reservations, please call 869-469-6238 or visit fourseasons.com/nevis

John Newcombe Tennis Ranch and Co-Ed Fantasy Camp

When it comes to tennis camps, the John Newcombe Tennis Ranch, in New Braunfels, is an Old School tennis camp, in the best sense of the word. Days spent drilling and competing are followed by nights of shared meals and camaraderie. Tennis matters but so does spending time with your mates. That Aussie formula persists year-round at the Ranch, but for a few days in October and again in March the atmosphere gets supercharged by the presence of Newk himself and a collection of other legends.

The October men's-only event draws upwards of a hundred, racquet-wielding competitors for a fantasy week of coaching, competition, banter, and world-class trash talk with some dozen tennis Legends, including Newk, Roy Emerson, and Owen Davidson. (My friend Terry Kahn has written wittily about his participation several times on Tennis Resorts Online's blog.) The March co-ed camp follows a similar format and headlines several of the same Legends—Newk, Emerson, Davidson, and Ross Case—but in deference to a mixed audience sheds the locker-room shenanigans.

When I attended last year, the group of 50+ participants consisted of both couples and individuals, a little more than half of us Fantasy Camp rookies. Organizer Steve Contardi greeted everyone as they arrived, handing out a swag bag containing a sweatshirt, two T-shirts, and a hat before getting us checked in and off to our rooms before a 3 p.m. gathering to introduce the Legends and camp pros and review the week's schedule. There we learned we'd be drafted onto one of two teams: the Wallabies, captained by Newk and Ross Case (a.k.a "Snake"), or the Kookaburras, led by Roy Emerson ("Emmo") and Owen Davidson ("Davo"). From there, the old hands went to upper courts to drill and play, while the rookies were parceled out to other courts—men in one direction, women in the other—with Ranch pros for rounds of forehands, backhands, approach shots, volleys, and overheads as team captains watched to decide whom they wanted to recruit. As we headed out, Newk set the bantering tone for the week: "Don't be nervous just because players with 150 Grand Slam titles are checking out your strokes."

Happy hour and snacks in the Ranch's Billabong Bar followed before a dinner of dinner of steak, salmon, salad, green beans, penne pasta, red or white wine, followed by a dessert of cheesecake. Afterward we gathered in a conference room for a rap session, where the legends assessed the futures of a variety of players, men and women, then playing at Indian Wells, and then continued on to the big event: the draft.

I was recruited onto the Wallabies, and as his first act as captain Newk gathered the team together to explain he expected us to have the fierceness of a Maori warrior and to that end taught us the his Wallaby war chant. This is a peculiar amalgam of "My Boomerang won't come back," the old Witch Doctor song (you know, the one that begins "oo ee oo ah ah"), a cry of "family, liberty, fight," accompanied by gestures too complicated to explain here. I'm not sure it terrified opponents so much as made them wonder about our sanity.

The next two days typically began with a legend giving tips—Newk on the lob, Emmo on volleys—followed by matches, men's or women's doubles mostly (only one round was mixed), occasionally interrupted by the rain. The legends roamed the courts, at times shouting encouragement or suggesting tactics. I don't know whether the war chant or taxidermied wallaby played a role, but the team competition came down to an entertaining women's doubles match, which the Wallabies pulled out in a third-set super tiebreaker.

But the chance to play for, and to some degree be coached by, the legends is only one aspect of what makes a camp like this so memorable. The nightly rap sessions wander widely from—often funny—reminiscences about their own crucial matches, insights about being on the tour, and enthusiasm for up-and-coming players. The Legends are approachable at the courts, sometimes give off-hand personal tips, and sit with you at dinner. It's impossible to imagine that you'll ever be able to do something similar with a Roger Federer or Rafa Nadal or Novak Djokovic, but you can with these legends, who like their modern counterparts were among the greatest players of their era. This year's Co-Ed Fantasy Camp takes place March 5-8.

Horseshoe Bay Resort

Red clay is a rarity at resorts, especially west of the Mississippi, so the six at Horseshoe Bay Resort would stand out even if they weren't attractively situated next to a kind of peaceful Oriental garden comprised of trees, ponds, sculptures, and wooden walkways. They're part of a larger complex that includes an additional eight hard courts as well as eight pickleball courts. All of that points to a dedication to tennis, as does the enthusiasm-infused program of tennis director Michelle Stallard, a personable former University of Texas standout, who's been there since 2006.

Her weekly roster includes cardio tennis classes and mixed tennis clinics as well as services like game matching. But beyond that, she peppers the calendar with a dozen USTA-sanctioned adult tournaments on the red clay as well as Ladies' Tennis & Wine weekends, which include a visit to a local winery, and Ultimate Doubles weekend camps, both with Sunday morning mimosas and bloody Marys.

All of this takes place at a family-friendly resort/residential development on the shores of Lake Lyndon B. Johnson, 45 minutes northwest of Austin. At its core is a 400-room hotel supplemented by rental villas and private homes. The amenities radiate out from the hotel, taking in the tennis courts, three 18-hole golf courses, an 18-hole grass putting course, a spa, a fitness center, several swimming pools, a marina and yacht club, bicycle rentals, watersports activities (fishing, kayaking, sunset cruises), a jungle kids' club, seven restaurants and lounges, a collection of exotic birds, and a private airport and jet center. During peak family-vacation periods, the resort adds junior tennis camps and tournaments, teen activities, and interactive kids programs to an already busy schedule that may include live music and other entertainment and tours of the nearby wine country. Tennis, solid though it is, is only the beginning.

Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa

Omni Barton Creek is not exactly new, though management by Omni Hotels & Resorts is and so, to a degree, is the hotel itself. It reopened in May 2019 after a $150 million expansion and renovation. Now expanded to 493 rooms, the hotel at its core anchors a 4,000-acre property set in the rolling hills 10 miles northwest of downtown Austin. Much of that acreage is devoted to the four championship golf courses, variously designed by Ben Crenshaw (an Austin native), Arnold Palmer, and Tom Fazio (who was responsible for two). The latest renovations, however, also benefited tennis players, who now have a brand-new, spaciously laid out complex of 10 hard courts, all with individual LED lighting. Though now promoted to director of sports, Monte Williams continues to be in charge of the tennis operations, a position he's held since 2008. And what tennis players can now look forward to, in addition to weekly clinics, junior programs, and private lessons, are such welcome off-court amenities as an 11,000-square-foot fitness center and a new Mokara Spa, the latter with an adult-only pool and rooftop deck.

With seven restaurants and lounges, it's easy enough to settle in and never leave. On the other hand, all of this is just 10 miles from the pink-granite capitol building in Austin and from the music and comedy clubs along East 6th Street, the fabled Broken Spoke dance Hall, Franklin Barbecue, the Barton Springs swimming pool, and from mid-March into early November the nightly sunset spectacular as more than a million Mexican free-tail bats take flight to forage from beneath Congress Bridge. You can have your tennis and everything Austin offers, too.

Tennis Resort/Camp News

The International Tennis Hall of Fame has posted a digital history of tennis racquets called "Smash Hit" on its website. It's a diverting retrospective, especially for anyone who's played the game for decades, since what you're also likely to see is a digital evolution of the technology you yourself used. But even if you're new to the game, it's fascinating to see the ancestors of the racquet you're currently using.

Vacation Sweepstakes

Tennis Resorts Online has once again secured four tennis vacations to give away in our annual drawing. Every review you file between now and April 30, 2020 gives you chance a winning one of these great tennis vacation prizes:

• Cliff Drysdale Tennis at Chateau Elan Winery & Resort: The lucky winner can look forward to two days of tennis camp for two people (3 hours each day) taught by the Cliff Drysdale staff on the hard or clay courts in racquet park in the North Georgia picturesque foothills. The prize also includes two nights of accommodations in a Deluxe Inn room and access to all the recreation and amenities this winery and resort, near Atlanta, Georgia, has to offer. Valid from May 1-December 30, 2020.
• New England Tennis Holidays at Sugarbush: This long-running and consistently highly rated tennis camp parlays a setting in Vermont's Green Mountains with a solid five-hour-a-day program run by experienced pros. The winner can look forward to two days of tennis camp (five hours a day) on Har-Tru courts and lunch both days, for two people (lodging is additional) Valid for 2020/2021 season.
• Saddlebrook Tennis: Although the tennis program is renowned as one of the planet's most intensive, the setting is pure multidimensional resort with golf, a lake-sized pool, and spa as complements to the on-court work. You could win a two-day tennis package for two, consisting of five hours of intensive tennis instruction each day (for both people) along with video analysis at this world-renowned resort in Wesley Chapel, near Tampa, Florida (lodging and meals not included).
• Saddlebrook Junior Tennis: Rate any junior camp and you're eligible to win a one-week junior camp at Saddlebrook Resort in Wesley Chapel, FL. The 6-day/5-night session includes 5+ hours of daily instruction, shared lodging in a junior suite, and all meals.

Packages and Specials

Adult Tennis Camps

• Saddlebrook (Hopman) Tennis, Florida: Free Upgrade to 1-bedroom suite + Amenity Basket
• John Newcombe Tennis Ranch, Texas: Save $100 on any all-inclusive adult package
• PBI World Tennis Camp, Feb. 1-4, 2020 at JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa, California

Tennis Resorts

• "Best Weekend in Tennis" customized package at Sea Pines Racquet Club, South Carolina

(Other Packages)