Ragin' Cajun Curtis Hollinger 1990 match

Former Cajun tennis player hopes tennis fever will spread

LOUISIANA La. — Any time a sport is seeking acceptance in a new area, the real payoff isn’t so much in the initial reaction but in continued participation.

Tradtionally, tennis has not been a prominent sport in the African American community.

Players like Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe were trailblazers at the professional level, and Zina Garrison and MaliVai Washington helped pave the way for current players Serena and Venus Williams and Chanda Rubin of Carencro.

But the sport is only sporadically played by everyday African Americans. If that perception and those numbers are going to change, it will have to be through continued work at the community level.

“It has to be a grass roots effort,” said Lafayette attorney Curtis Hollinger, a standout collegiate tennis player at University of Louisiana from 1987-90. “We’re hoping to do a lot more than we have done.

“It’s a tough sell, but I wanted to give back to the sport that’s done a lot for me.”

Hollinger came to UL from Alabama and posted a 73-38 singles record as a Ragin’ Cajun standout, including a 24-9 finish in 1988.

He was the LSWA All-Louisiana Player of the Year as a senior in 1990.

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com