EASTERN TENNIS HALL OF FAME
EASTERN TENNIS HALL OF FAME WEBSITE
The Eastern Tennis Hall of Fame was established in 1988 to honor individuals from the USTA Eastern Section who have made significant contributions to tennis on and off the court. In 2023 we commissioned the Eastern Tennis Hall of Fame online archival website.
Please click the button below to view the history and learn more about our inductees.
ABOUT THE HALL OF FAME
Each year the Eastern Tennis Hall of fame hosts a ceremony to induct up to six new members.
Who is eligible for consideration as an inductee to the Hall of Fame*?
PLAYERS
PROFESSIONAL: Players achieving international status and ranking, representing USA in Olympics and in either the Fed or Davis Cups.
EASTERN SECTION: Players who rose to prominence through the Eastern junior rankings.
CONTRIBUTORS
Professionals in media from Eastern Section, such as broadcasters, writers and photographers, who made significant national or international contributions to the sport.
VOLUNTEERS
People who made a significant impact in the growth of tennis in the Eastern Section.
*Residency requirement - At least ten years residency in the Eastern Section is required in order to be considered.
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HALL OF FAME 2024 INDUCTEES
EDWARD GOLDMAN
Anyone who has ever attended the US Open or a USTA Eastern event has seen Ed Goldman. A fixture in the photographer’s pit on Ashe Stadium since it opened, Ed first shot the US Open in 1976 when it was still at Forest Hills. In 1982, he was credentialed into the National Tennis Center, and has not missed an Open since.
He’s been an official photographer at every Eastern Tennis Hall of Fame ceremony since the late 1980s and he’s been snapping photos at Eastern’s Annual Awards dinners, Junior awards, and countless galas for NYJTL, Harlem Junior Education and Learning, and other New York tennis organizations and events for over 30 years. He is “Eastern’s Photographer.”
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He is honored to join his two friends and mentors, the late Mel DiGiacomo and Bob Kenas who preceded him into Eastern Tennis Hall of Fame.
HEMEL MEGHANI COSME
Hemel Meghani Cosme grew up playing tennis in NYC parks at programs run by NYJTL and City Parks Foundation (programs still supported today by JTF!).
She was a top Eastern junior before playing D1 tennis at UCSB and played briefly on the WTA tour.
She returned to NYC’s parks in the 80s, first running the Central Park Tennis Center for a decade, followed by two decades at Alley Pond Tennis Center.
Today Hemel runs the Active Pickleball and Tennis Center at Queens College.
CHRIS GARNER
Long Island native Chris Garner was a nationally ranked junior by the time he was twelve years, eventually reaching the number one spot in both the 14s and 16s.
He played for the Georgia Bulldogs in college, earning All-American honors, before joining the ATP tour. His highest ranking was World 120 in 1991 and his best run was at the 1993 Australian Open where he lost to Peter Korda in the quarterfinals.
He is currently head coach for Navy’s men’s tennis team, with a 202-103 record over the last decade.
CHRISTINE K. SCHOTT
Born into a storied tennis family, Christine K. Schott has left her own imprint on Eastern Tennis in more ways than can be counted. She worked closely with Hall of Famer and Junior Tennis Foundation Founder Gene Scott for more than 15 years at Tennis Week, the influential tennis magazine of record. As a board member at the historic West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, Christine was instrumental in saving the famed tennis stadium, long time home to the US Open and such champions and fellow Eastern Hall of Famers as Althea Gibson, Arthur Ashe, Billie Jean King and John McEnroe. She was the long-time director -along with Lloyd Emanuel (another Eastern Hall of Famer) of the Eastern Men’s 35 Grass Court Championships, and with Gene Scott, of the the USTA Men’s National Grass Court Champions, where she also served as a referee.
Schott is humbled to be honored with this august group of champions and contributors to the game she loves. “Fred Perry taught me to serve and then Bobby Riggs taught me to play backgammon,” she laughs. “I may not be as good a player as other Eastern Hall of Famers, but my love for the game runs deep!”
ANTONIO PALAFOX
Antonio Palafox is among the most influential coaches in Eastern tennis. At the fabled Port Washington Tennis Academy in the 1970s, he was instrumental in developing John McEnroe’s game, along with a host of other future Eastern Hall of Famers such as Mary Carillo, Vitas Gerulaitis and Peter Fleming.
Prior to moving to NYC in 1968, Antonio was a top international player. He and his partner Rafael Osuna won the Wimbledon and US Open doubles titles in the early 60s and led Mexico to the Davis Cup finals in 1962 where they lost to a team that included Rod Laver, Roy Emerson and Neal Fraser.
At 87, Antonio is still teaching tennis in the Atlanta area for a couple of hours each day.
NITTY SINGH
A pioneering tennis entrepreneur, Nitty Singh became the first woman to serve as tournament director of an ATP Tour event in 1987 when she ran the OTB Open, a popular US Open warm-up tournament in Schenectady, NY. Under Singh’s leadership, the tournament was the only free-to-the-public tournament on either tour.
In 1986, when the tournament was a Challenger event, Singh gave 16-year-old Andre Agassi a wild-card berth in what was his first professional tournament. Nitty followed that up two years later giving an entry to a teenage Pete Sampras.
A fixture – indeed, often described as the Tennis Mayor – of the Capital Region, Nitty was the owner of the World Team Tennis New York Buzz for 19 years during which time Serena and Venus Williams and both Martinas, Navratilova and Hingis, made appearances. Hers is a true tennis family: her husband Inder has competed internationally, her son Miki has worked for the ATP and her son Sonny played for Binghamton. Together they have received Eastern’s prestigious Tennis Family of the Year.
"My inspiration was and is Billie Jean King.", Nitty shares, "I am privileged to have her as a friend!"