About Taube Tennis Center
The Taube Tennis Center is the most beautiful and functional facility in Northern California, and is home to both the Men's and Women's Stanford Tennis Teams. Originally built in 1926, the Taube Tennis Center has undergone many renovations and additions over the years and today its two sites (the Taube Family Tennis Stadium and the adjacent Taube South Courts) seat approximately 3,500.
The Taube Tennis Center has hosted several major tennis events over the years, both on the collegiate and professional levels. The WTA's "Bank of the West" classic begins the U.S. Open series and has been held at Taube Tennis Center since 1997. In addition, the Taube Tennis Center has hosted the 1999 Fed Cup Finals (U.S. vs. Russia) the 2000 and 2001 Siebel Seniors Champions Tour event, four NCAA Women's Tennis Championships, and the first ever combined men's and women's NCAA Championships in 2006 and again in 2011. Many of the best players in the world have played at the facility, including John McEnroe, Jimmy Conners, Bjorn Borg, Mats Wilander, Venus and Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Martina Hingis, Mary Pierce, and Kim Clijsters.
Stanford's original 11-court intercollegiate tennis facility was built in 1926. It provided grandstand seating for viewing of three stadium courts for approximately 600 spectators. Since that time, the facility has been completely rebuilt and has grown into one of the finest in the nation.
In 1983, the Ralph Rodriguez Clubhouse was built. It later became the cornerstone of further facility upgrades. It provides meeting rooms and coaching staff office space. It houses the Orsak Family Heritage Room, featuring one of the most impressive displays of collegiate success in any sport in the nation.
In 1989, the old bleacher-type seating was demolished and a beautiful 1160 individual seat stadium was erected using the Ralph Rodriguez Clubhouse as its center. This structure contains men's and women's team locker rooms, additional office space, and an indoor practice range.
The Craig R. Johnson Players' Lounge is a popular team gathering place and study area. It was donated by the former 1976 standout and his family.
In 1996, The Russ and Jackie Thompson Video Center was added, courtesy of Jackie Thompson in memory of her late husband who was a great friend of Stanford tennis. This state-of-the-art center provides video feeds from cameras mounted on seven courts and allows players and coaches the ability to review each practice and all matches.
Thanks to the lead generosity of Tad and Dianne Taube, as well as over 600 other former players and supporters, The Taube Family Tennis Stadium was completed in the spring of 1997. It features 2500 individual seats, a championship Plexicushion indoor court and substantial office space. The Koret and Fluegel Family Conference Rooms are an important component of the building and are serviced by a kitchenette, restrooms and substantial storage space.
In 1999, the Phil and Penny Knight Scoreboard was erected allowing for live updated scoring for all eleven courts of the stadium and for the internet.
Soon after, the Victor and Gwen Riches FamilyTutorial Rooms, home of the East Palo Alto Tennis and Tutoring Program, lighting for all eleven courts, and the Bill and Dixie Gates Heritage Plaza were added.
In 2004, the Taube South Complex was completed, featuring six lighted courts, a scoreboard and permanent spectator seating. In 2005, permanent bleachers were added to the competitive courts east of the Taube Family Tennis Stadium. Now, all 17 Taube Tennis Center courts have spectator viewing and championship lighting. Also added was a wireless system allowing umpires to relay the score of any of the 17 courts directly to the scoreboard, and from there to the Stanford Athltics website. Thanks to the generosity of Michael and Chris Boskin, web users can view any of the six matches live.
The stadium facade sports a large all-weather monitor, a second monitor with DVD player featuring a website scoreboard and a touch screen kiosk, courtesy of Laurence Korn and in honor of men's head coach John Whitlinger. Over 200 Stanford archived videos can be selected for viewing.
The Taube Tennis Center is one of the best tennis facilities in the nation. It was named by the U.S. Tennis Court and Track Builders Association as an "Outstanding Outdoor Tennis Facility" in recognition of excellence in design and construction.
Court Surface
Among the most outstanding in Northern California, the court is concrete with a plexi-pave acrylic surface.
Ralph Rodriguez Clubhouse
This is the building on the north side of the facility. It holds offices, an indoor court and the Craig R. Johnson Family Players Lounge with the Russ and Jackie Thompson video center. The Ralph Rodriguez Founder's Room is an inclement weather workout area that contains a practice court. The Orsak Family Heritage Room is a multipurpose room used for team meetings and pre and post match receptions for box seat holders. It contains a kitchenette and a large screen television.
Scoreboard
The Phil and Penelope Knight Scoreboard and message center is 34 feet by 8 inches wide and controlled by consoles at each court. A scoreboard message center is used to acknowledge program sponsors and to update match and schedule announcements. The scoreboard is also connected to the internet allowing anyone to view live match updates from any computer console. An auxiliary scoreboard for the backcourts was installed in 1999.
NCAA Championships Improvements
For the 2011 NCAA Championships, three auxiliary scoreboards were added-one for Courts 4-6, and two at Taube South. In addition cameras and mics were added so that video streams and sound can be accessed from all 17 courts. Action from any one (or 4) of these courts may be viewed on the main screen at the stadium entrance. The scoreboard and court streams can be accessed on match days at www.gostanford.com.
