TOURNAMENT UPDATE 5/17: The draws for each event are now online at the tournament results page. Match times will be posted Monday, May 21. RSVP for the Banquet right now - you must RSVP to attend!
The 2012 United States Gay Open
Memorial Weekend, May 25-28, 2012
Stanford University
Palo Alto, California
Alex Lin, Tournament Director
Steve Nugent, Co-Director, Registration & Scheduling
Craig Sabol, Co-Director, Events
Santi Soumpholphakdy, Co-Director, Public Relations
Marissa Myers, World Team Tennis Coordinator
Memorial Day Weekend means many things to many people. For some, it is a time of reflection and appreciation of the sacrifices made by others. For others, it is a time to escape to a warm beach somewhere and unwind and relax. But for many gay and lesbian tennis players from far and wide, Memorial Day Weekend has come to mean tennis. A weekend of fabulous tennis. For thirty-two years San Francisco’s Gay & Lesbian Tennis Federation has, on Memorial Day Weekend, hosted the United States Gay Open. Known as the USGO, this tennis tournament is one of the oldest and most prestigious gay and lesbian sporting events in the world. The event attracts hundreds of tennis players from across the United States, and from countries around the world. These players come to play and watch great tennis, make new friends, and enjoy all that the San Francisco Bay Area has to offer.
In recent years the tournament has often been held at Stanford University’s Taube Tennis Stadium. It will once again take place at Taube Stadium this year. There is really only one word to describe Taube Stadium – breathtaking. It is the host of the professional women’s Bank of the West Tennis Tournament – where Serena, Kim, Venus, and Victoria have all shined. The stadium is a sea of beautiful blue courts surrounded by comfortable stadium seats and, of course, Palo Alto’s sunshine.
There may be plenty of reasons for the enduring popularity of the USGO, but the simplest explanation is usually the best explanation. And the simple explanation here is that the USGO is fun. It is epic, it is exciting, it is historic, it is all that – but most of all it is fun. So what are you doing on Memorial Day Weekend? Grab your racquet and come on out to Stanford. And let’s have fun.
The USGO is North America’s largest LGBT tennis tournament and is a GLTA-sanctioned event. If you would like to help with this year’s USGO, please join our tournament committee. Help is needed with fundraising, publicity, organizing, entertainment and much more. Contact Alex Lin at usgo@gltf.org.