At the 2026 US Open, the USTA once again recognized and honored Champions of Equality from around the country. This year, USTA Florida’s honoree was Wendy Tatum, whose work at one of the nation’s premier public tennis facilities, the Palm Beach Gardens Tennis & Pickleball Center, has helped make the sport more open and accessible across South Florida.
Tatum was one of 16 women representing USTA sections nationwide honored at the fourth annual event, held Thursday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The celebration also recognized Emmy Award-winning journalist, author and entrepreneur Hoda Kotb, who received the US Open Billie Jean King Champion of Equality Award presented by Billie Jean King.
The Champions of Equality was first awarded in 2023, when King received a Lifetime Achievement Award and Venus Williams was presented the first US Open Billie Jean King Champion of Equality Award. Former USTA Florida President Dana Andrews was among the 16 section honorees that inaugural year. Former USTA Florida Board Member Rita Dotson followed in 2024, and Terri Florio, Executive Director of the MaliVai Washington Youth Foundation in Jacksonville, was honored in 2025. Tatum now joins them as Florida’s fourth honoree.
As Director of Tennis and Pickleball for the City of Palm Beach Gardens, Tatum oversees all operations at the Palm Beach Gardens Tennis Center, where she has been since 2014. Under her leadership, the facility has become a national model for what a public tennis center can be. It has earned the 2025 USTA National Outstanding Facility Award, USTA National Member Organization of the Year honors, the 2018 USTA Florida Member Organization of the Year award and the 2014 USTA National Outstanding Facility Award. Tatum herself was named the 2019 USPTA Large Facility Manager of the Year.
The center features 20 hydro-grid clay courts, four hard courts and six pickleball courts, with year-round programming built to reach preschoolers through seniors and players of every level and ability. It also serves as a hub for wheelchair tennis in South Florida.
For Tatum, the mission has always been about who gets to walk through the gate. That belief has shaped more than just her own courts. Tatum has become one of USTA Florida’s most trusted voices on public park tennis, serving on the panel at the organization’s inaugural Advocacy Workshop in Palm Beach Gardens and returning this year to share her expertise on creating thriving public tennis centers at the Greater Volusia-Flagler Area Advocacy Workshop.
Past recipients of the US Open Billie Jean King Champion of Equality Award include King, Venus Williams, television creator and producer Shonda Rhimes, filmmaker Ava DuVernay and former US Open tournament director Stacey Allaster.
USTA Florida is honored to have Wendy Tatum represent the section as a Champion of Equality.
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