If you’ve never been to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, RI, you really ought to check it out. The museum is informative for adults and entertaining for older kids. Little kids may get slightly bored at the museum.
The real excitement in Newport is the annual Campbell’s International Hall of Fame Championships, usually held around the week of July 4. This is an ATP 250 level event, placing it in the caliber of the Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston and slightly below a tournament like the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in DC.
John Isner was the wild-carded #1 seed after top American player Mardy Fish withdrew as a result of being called up to play for the USA in the Davis Cup Quarterfinals in Austin, TX. Isner was up to the challenge and plays in the finals today.
There were actually two separate events for kids at Newport. The first two days of the main-draw tournament found the USPTA offering lessons for all ages on the historic Casino grass court. Quickstart nets (low) and balls (big) were set up for the kiddie crowd. My daughter received incredible instruction from the USPTA volunteers in a class with 4-6 kids. These lessons were free with the price of admission. The Hall of Fame offered free admission for 2 people with the donation of a used racquet on Monday and Tuesday, making the cost of those lessons and admission almost free. USPTA kid’s lessons: A+
The “other” Kid’s Day was the officially-promoted one: Your kid’s chance to learn from an ATP World Tour Pro, autographs, photos and ice cream for $35. Naturally, I was in. For this lesson, they took about 40(!) kids on the back practice courts, across from the player’s practice area, and split them into 4 groups based on age. The selection of Sebastian Decoud as instructor, the Argentinian with a #215 world ranking, was a slight disappointment from the start. Not that we expected Andre Agassi to train our kids. An American player would have been more interesting to some of us. But never mind.
Decoud was largely kept away from the small children’s group to focus on the bigger kids. When it was finally the little guys turn to play with Decoud, his trainer (think Uncle Tony Nadal) gave most of the instruction. So, Decoud was really just a pretty face over there. It was kind of him to agree to do this, so I can’t blame him. The overall chaos of 40 kids made the event a solid mess.
Overall grade for that Kid’$ Day: C-
This video is a compilation of both events, starting with the Decoud debacle and moving on to the USPTA free lessons.
Tennis Atlantic 
Return Serve?