Page 35 - Tennis Magazine April 2019

Administration in 1979. “In those days that opened in 2001 and hosted the they ever have a chance to compete
it was pretty tough to make more than NCAA Championships in 2015. for money. I always had this belief that
you spent on tour, just like it is today, In the years since, Hurd has if our players had the opportunity to
when you have to be [ranked around expanded his efforts beyond Baylor, keep going, they could play longer
No.] 200 or 250 in the world to make and tried to fill in some of the gaps and give themselves a better shot
any money at all. So I went in a differ- that have kept the sport out of reach at a career. The whole issue in tennis
ent direction.” for so many in the United States. is accessibility.”
That direction led him first to a job “We’ve tried to put some connective Collins wasted no time in validating
as a salesman at the NCR Corporation, tissue between the juniors and the pro Hurd’s belief. In 2018, she stunned
in Dallas. Over the next 25 years, Hurd tour,” Hurd says. many in the tennis world with her rise
worked his way up to become chief To that end, along with the grants, from No. 167 to No. 36. After finishing
executive, before leaving in 2005 to Oracle has created a four-tournament first in the Oracle Challenger Series,
take the same position at Hewlett- Challenger Series in the U.S., with dual- Collins took her wild card into Indian
Packard. In 2010, Hurd was hired by gender events in Chicago, Houston, Wells and made it to the fourth round;
Larry Ellison and named president at Newport Beach and Indian Wells. The she then made a semifinal run at the
Oracle, a Northern California tech com- American players with the best overall Miami Open. This year, Colllins reached
pany with $40 billion in annual revenue results receive wild cards into the the semifinals at the Australian Open,
and 137,000 employees worldwide. In BNP Paribas Open. The company has and demolished No. 2 seed Angelique
2014, Hurd was elevated to CEO. also partnered with the Intercollegiate Kerber along the way.
“What he’s done well,” Fortune Tennis Association to sponsor three “Things add up really fast when
magazine said of Hurd, “is run the of its national tournaments, as well as you’re playing, like, 30 tournaments a
sales operation very efficiently.” its rankings. At the recreational level, year or more,” said Collins, who was
Hurd never lost his love for tennis, Oracle has backed Universal Tennis able to hire a traveling coach with
or his interest in trying to help U.S. Rating (UTR), which, as the name sug- the money. “I think I actually started
players survive in a line of work that gests, offers a single, unified standard performing a lot better once I had that
has only become more competitive as for rating players’ abilities and match- kind of financial security.”
the sport has become more globalized. ing them with competitive partners. When Hurd started at Oracle, he
He funded the Hurd Tennis Center at “It’s an expensive sport,” Hurd says. found a kindred spirit in Ellison. The
Baylor, a 12-court, 3,000-seat facility “Players can spend $250,000 before company’s billionaire co-founder had

A former college player, Hurd is keenly aware of the skill sets student-
athletes bring to the tennis court and to the business world. In McDonald
and Collins, he’s helped two Americans as they make a go of it in the pros.

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