Exclusive Interview: Arkansas Tennis Is Saved

Inside the effort to resurrect the University of Arkansas tennis teams.

We have been following the University of Arkansas story closely since the school abruptly cut its men’s and women’s tennis programs without discussions with coaches or alumni. On Thursday, the university reversed its decision after a feverish fundraising effort by former players and other supporters. They came up with $5 million to fund the teams for two years, and the money will buy more than uniforms—it also buys the program time to find a long-term solution and keep college tennis at Arkansas.

Served talked to one of the alums behind the reinstatement effort, Simon Robinson, who played for the Razorbacks in the 1980s. The New Zealander explained how the group convinced the chancellor to reconsider the decision.

Robinson choked up several times discussing the ordeal of the last 20 days and what it meant for the Northern Arkansas tennis community to come together.

“You got to fight like a tennis player. You’ve got to grind. You’ve got to compete. You can’t give up. Our analogy was, Man, we’re down a set and a double break and John Isner is serving and it doesn’t look good. But you know what, you still have a chance. And we made it work,” Robinson said.

It’s an emotional and powerful interview that reveals how important NCAA tennis is to the greater American tennis community—and what other tennis alumni bases might face soon in the new age of college sports.