In general, the courts of championship-level tennis programs aren’t supposed to have giant cracks in them.
It made UNC women’s tennis head coach Brian Kalbas’ conundrum all the more shocking — and embarrassing. His team was set to face off against nationally-ranked Florida State in a critical ACC matchup, and one of his outdoor courts was unplayable.
“It was a beautiful day. Sunny,” Kalbas told Chapelboro. “And they had a flight to catch. I said, ‘Unfortunately, we can’t play on this court. So we gave [Florida State] a choice to play indoors or outdoors: indoors on six courts or outdoors on five courts, so one singles match would have to wait. They chose to play indoors.”
The incident, which occurred in 2021, was a black eye for the UNC women’s tennis program, which has long been a national powerhouse under Kalbas. It also served as yet another reminder of one of the only deficiencies of Kalbas’ team: the lack of reliable outdoor facilities. The UNC outdoor facility is shared between the men’s and women’s programs, and men’s head coach Sam Paul was also dissatisfied with its condition.
“The outdoor courts became unplayable. We had really terrible cracks,” Paul told Chapelboro. “Six of the courts, in the last six years, we couldn’t even host any tournaments on because they were so bad.”
Word reached athletic director Bubba Cunningham and men’s tennis alumnus Tom Chewning. Spurred by the embarrassment against Florida State, a plan was put into action: a brand-new, world-class outdoor tennis facility.
Two years later, that plan is now reality: the Chewning Tennis Center is set to host its first-ever NCAA Tournament matches this weekend, as both the men’s and women’s teams are national seeds in their respective championships.
The ceremonial ribbon-cutting at the new Chewning Tennis Center in Chapel Hill. Tom Chewning and his wife Nancy stand on either side of UNC chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz (center, holding scissors). (Image via UNC Athletic Communications/Jeffrey A. Camarati)
The $18.5 million dollar facility, funded entirely through private donations, features 12 spectacular courts and comfortable, elevated seating for fans underneath an awning. Where the previous facility separated courts with walkways and stairs, this one provides an all-in-one viewing and playing experience. The facility was built in collaboration with both Paul and Kalbas, who have a combined 50 years of head coaching experience in Chapel Hill between them.
That means if you can impress them, you’ve done something right. And Kalbas was very much impressed.
“Now, we have arguably the best and nicest facility for the players [to compete in], to coach in, for fans to watch in,” he said. “It’s just incredible. You couldn’t dream of a better facility than we have right now.”
Paul was so overwhelmed by the Chewning Center’s grandeur, he had to take a moment to collect himself.
“The first day that we went into it and we practiced in it, I honestly had tears in my eyes,” he said. “Because now we can train here, and we can host so many big events here, it can be a showcase facility for our teams, our programs. We have a world-class university, we’re trying to train players to be world-class players, and now we have a world-class facility to do that in.”
It was a long time coming for both programs, each of which have reached at least the national semifinals in the last decade of outdoor competition and have won multiple ITA indoor national championships. The Chewning Outdoor Center and the Cone-Kenfield Indoor Center are off-campus facilities, nestled behind the Friday Center along Highway 54. While athletic facilities on campus received needed upgrades in recent years, the tennis teams simply waited their turn.
“Anson Dorrance has won 22 national titles. You see the stadium that’s named after him and what they’ve done there,” Kalbas said. “And then you see field hockey; they’ve won so many national championships, and you see the stadium they have. And then you see the renovation for football, the brand new indoor football center. So for us now, we feel that it’s validation: now we have a championship-caliber facility to go along with our programs.”
Signage inside Cone-Kenfield describes the upgrades to both the indoor and outdoor facilities as simply “Phase 1.” And Paul said Tom Chewning is not going to simply rest on the laurels of the new facility which bears his name.
“We’re not done yet. Tom keeps pushing us to be better and better,” he said. “He’s pushing us for some other things that we’d like to accomplish here, [like] a new team building. We keep pushing and pushing and pushing. Tom said, ‘If we build it, we’re gonna build it the right way… it’s gonna be the best.’ And it absolutely is.”
The new Chewning Center appears to have everything a collegiate tennis program would want, except for one: NCAA trophies in the cabinet. That’s what the men’s and women’s programs will aim for this month.
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Jeffrey A. Camarati
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