Baseline Tennis Center-University of Minnesota

The Baseline Tennis Center is the sparkling home of Golden Gopher Tennis. Opened in the fall of 2002, the on-campus facility provides the University of Minnesota with one of the premier collegiate tennis venues in the nation.

The Baseline Tennis Center was built in conjunction with Ridder Arena, the University of Minnesota's Women's Hockey Program's new home. Through a lead gift of $500,000 from Bob and Kathleen Ridder and $1.5 million dollars which was raised by the Baseline Club, the University of Minnesota boasts some of the nation's top facilities.

The Baseline Tennis Center, which houses both the men's and women's tennis teams, includes a spacious players' lounge, in addition to team locker rooms and coaches' and officials’ locker rooms. The tennis teams share an enormous weight room with their Golden Gopher women's hockey counterparts.

The facility features 22 signature maroon and gold courts, 10 inside and 12 outside. The indoor courts have 30-foot ceilings and are heated during the winter and air-conditioned in the summer. The courts have a plexi-type of pavement that provides more cushion than typical hard courts. The softer surface is designed to prevent injuries by causing less stress on the athletes' knees and other joints.

Spectators can watch all the action from the bleachers which overlook the six main indoor courts. The bleachers feature chair-back seating, able to hold as many as 500 fans. A scoreboard and state-of-the-art sound system keep the spectators informed of all the action.

Located on the spectator level is a club room for the men's Baseline Club and the women's Courtside Club. It features a kitchen for private parties and pre- match receptions.

Beyond court and spectator perks, which also includes concession stands, the front entrance features a Hall of Fame room with a mural and trophy cases celebrating Golden Gopher Tennis.

In just its first two months of operation, the Baseline Tennis Center successfully hosted the Minnesota Invitational, a six-team men's tournament, as well as the 2002 Big Ten Men's Singles Championship. In May of 2003, the facility hosted the first and second rounds of the NCAA Men’s Tennis Championships. The Golden Gopher women's tennis team hosted the ITA Midwest Regional Championships in October of 2004 at the Baseline Tennis Center. The University of Minnesota also successfully hosted the 2006 Big Ten Men's Tennis Championships. In addition to hosting Big Ten, NCAA, and ITA events and championships, Baseline hosted the U.S. Transplant Games in 2004 and has hosted a variety of USTA events, fundraisers, workshops, and youth programs.

Baseline Tennis Center has distinguished itself as an elite tennis facility with numerous awards including the 2009 USTA Organization of the Year Award which recognizes the outstanding services of a USTA member organization through its commitment to the tennis community, the organization’s members and the game of tennis. The USTA honored the Baseline Tennis Center in 2008 with its Outstanding Facility of the Year Award, and in 2006 with the USTA Northern Organization of the Year. The Tennis Industry Association (TIA) also honored Baseline Tennis Center, naming Baseline one of its Top 50 Welcome Centers of 2007. Baseline also received the 2007 NIRSA Ace Award for its promotion and support of tennis on the campus of the University of Minnesota.

The University of Minnesota recently completed an expansion of the Baseline Tennis Center to include four new tennis courts north of Fifth Street Southeast.