Luxury Tennis

By Thomas Becnel
Published: May 15, 2008
Last Updated On: January 16, 2012

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Amelia Island

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Boca Raton

Tennis courts are anything but average at these luxury resorts.

While all golf courses are different, often dramatically so, all tennis courts are pretty much the same. Given this fact, as sure as an Andre Agassi backhand down the line, what can the best Florida tennis resorts do to set themselves apart from the field? Well, everything.

Players are pampered from check-in to checkout, from fluffy towels and 300-thread-count sheets to all-day programs for kids and activities for the whole family.

Top-seeded tennis destinations tuck those look-alike courts into one-of-a-kind locations near beaches and golf courses, spas and swimming pools, fine dining and resort shops. Talented tennis pros with infinite patience cheerfully spend hours working on the oh-so-average games of their guests. Players are pampered from check-in to checkout, from fluffy towels and 300-thread-count sheets to all-day programs for kids and activities for the whole family.

At Omni Amelia Island Plantation, an exclusive resort north of Jacksonville, tennis is played beneath a glorious canopy of live oak trees. Although the Bausch & Lomb Championships no longer continue, guests can still request a match on the stadium court "minus the bleachers" where champions such as Martina Hingis once competed.

The Plantation is the kind of place where a guest can request a tough singles match, lose 6-0, 6-0, and then shrug it off with a fine dinner at the Verandah restaurant.

Three championship golf courses straddle the 1,350-acre resort. The place feels woodsy and expansive. Shaded lanes beg cyclists and golf cart riders to roll away for a few hours. The wide, firm-packed beaches welcome joggers and walkers at sunrise.

Besides several fine resort restaurants, the Marché Burette market offers both staples and luxuries, including gourmet pizzas baked in a wood-fired oven, and spicy boiled shrimp. Enjoy daily breakfast or Sunday brunch in the Sunrise Café where second-story seating serves up views of the Atlantic Ocean including fishing boats and dolphins.

If this spread won't get you through a five-set match, nothing will.

Other Top Tennis Resorts in Florida

The Boca Raton Resort and Club, a Waldorf Astoria Resort, is regularly listed by Tennis Magazine as one of the top tennis programs in the country. Guests can enjoy the immaculate courts plus expert instruction by the Evert Academy. For the finer things in resort life, there is Addison Mizner’s famous pin-and-white Cloister hotel, built in 1926.

Saddlebrook Resort, 25 miles north of downtown Tampa, offers five hours of intense tennis training a day at its tennis school. For the rest of the family, there's the Saddlebrook Golf Academy, shops and a full-service spa along with the 500,000-gallon "Superpool."