The International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, has preserved the sport’s heritage since 1954 and sits on the very grass courts that hosted the first U.S. National Championships in 1881. Every July it stages the Hall of Fame Open, the lone ATP-sanctioned grass-court tournament in the United States. After losing its ATP 250 status, the 2025 edition debuted as a combined ATP Challenger 125 and WTA 125 event.
On 9 July 2025, billionaire hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman (age 59; Forbes real-time net worth ≈ $9.4 billion) entered the doubles draw on a team wildcard with 2021 Newport doubles champion Jack Sock. They fell to Australians Omar Jasika and Bernard Tomic 6-1, 7-5 in a match that lasted just over an hour.
The reaction was blistering. Former world No. 1 Andy Roddick told listeners of his Served podcast that the contest was “the biggest joke I’ve ever watched in professional tennis” and “beneath the Hall of Fame.” Eighteen-time major champion Martina Navratilova echoed the sentiment on X, writing, “Apparently you can buy yourself a wild card.” Scores of fans, including U.S. Open press officer Randy Walker, who dubbed it “the absolute worst professional tennis match I have ever seen”, questioned whether Ackman’s substantial donations to the Hall facilitated his entry.
Under ATP Rule 7.13, any form of payment for a wildcard is strictly prohibited, and tournament officials insisted no money changed hands. Sock requested the team wildcard; Ackman, a long-time backer of the Professional Tennis Players Association who has occasionally hit with legends such as Andre Agassi, accepted. In a post-match statement Ackman conceded that stage fright “literally froze” his body, calling the experience “humbling.”
Controversy aside, Newport’s Hall of Fame campus remains a bucket-list stop for tennis enthusiasts, featuring 13 public grass courts and a 25,000-artifact museum celebrating the game’s icons.
