International Tennis Hall of Fame Unveils Renovations to Museum

The International Tennis Hall of Fame (ITHF) reopened its Museum Wednesday following a multimillion-dollar renovation, the first in over a decade.

NEWPORT, RI, RI, UNITED STATES, May 15, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- NEWPORT, R.I., USA – May 15, 2025 – The International Tennis Hall of Fame (ITHF) reopened its Museum Wednesday following a multimillion-dollar renovation and unveiled a new symbol to define Hall of Fame membership for years to come. The transformation honors the sport’s history, celebrates the legacies of its champions and contributors and redefines the guest experience with new state-of-the-art technology.

On hand to officially cut the ribbon during the invitation-only celebration were ITHF inductee Gigi Fernandez, Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee, ITHF President Patrick McEnroe and ITHF CEO Dan Faber.

“We have to get ready for something I believe the sport of tennis has not seen ever, and who knows when it will happen again. The golden era,” said Faber, referencing the pending inductions of legends of the sport like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Serena and Venus Williams. “It’s going to be epic, and it’s going to come here to Newport, Rhode Island, which is really exciting.”

The ITHF Museum renovations were designed by Nashville-based Advent, an experience design firm known for its work at the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame and the Dallas Cowboys Headquarters, the Star.

“Our challenge was to bring this (ITHF) brand into the context of society and culture, this moment in history when incredible greats have already been inducted, and future greats will be inducted,” said John Roberson, Advent’s CEO.

Highlights of the renovation include interactive immersive digital experiences that create a modern flair to the historic space. The completely redesigned Celebration Gallery is anchored by the Inspirational Legacies AR Experience, a 14-foot sculpture that allows visitors to take a deep dive into stories of their favorite tennis greats via their mobile phones. The sculpture features 131 white balls seemingly suspended in space that each trigger a story of inspiration.

Other highlights include the completely renovated and relocation of The Hall of Famers’ Gallery, a unique space honoring every Hall of Famer who has received the ultimate honor in tennis with a new symbol of induction: a cast bronze racquet. Visitors can utilize a QR code displayed with the individual plaques and racquets to learn more about each player’s story or by using one of . three 8 ft x 4.5 ft LED screens that are connected to a custom experience management system via island mounted tablets. The tablets allow for a variety of visitor-driven experiences including: search of ITHOF inductees and viewing of associated inductee video media (induction speeches, career highlights, etc).

“A lot of credit really goes to the Advent team. The cast bronze racquet with individual stories was one of the very first things that they pitched to us when we started this project—to give a moment for each inductee,” said Julilana Barbieri, ITHF SVP of Content/Partnerships. “Each one has such an incredible story to tell and this racket is a representation of our logo.”

The work also added space that will increase the amount of inventory the museum can display. Before the renovations, the ITHF displayed about 10% of its available artifacts,

The project was funded by a portion of the $12M Tennis Forever Capital Campaign, which began in 2018; these were the first renovations to the ITHF Museum since 2015.

Additional areas updated include:


The Majors, presented by Rolex, an interactive journey through the Grand Slam tournaments narrated by Roger Federer and displayed on a Custom curved LED screen (5760mm* x 1920 mm)
The Newport Tennis Traditions Gallery, celebrating the origins of tennis in Newport and showcasing the US Open trophies throughout the year
The opening of a Hall of Famers’ Lounge, an event and meeting space
A reimagined Welcome Center, Bellevue Boutique retail location and exit area
The renovated Court Tennis Viewing Gallery, which details the history and development of racquet sports and overlooks one of just 49 court tennis facilities worldwide

As part of the ITHF’s goal to display unique and contemporary items that represent tennis history in the making, some of the magnificent memorabilia that will be shown to guests in the reimagined Celebration Gallery include:

A "Statement CoolMax" shirt and shorts worn by eight-time Grand Slam winner Andre Agassi.
A racquet used by Naomi Osaka during the 2020 US Open Women's Singles Championship, which she won for her second US Open title.
Elena Rybakina’s racquet and visor when she took home the title at the 2022 Wimbledon Ladies Singles Championship.
Jannik Sinner’s racquet from the 2024 US Open Men’s Singles Championship where he won his second major.
Umpire’s scorecard from the 1968 match between Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall at the first-ever Open Era tournament.
A nearly hundred year old scorecard from the 1926 match between Helen Wills and Suzanne Lenglen at the Carlton Club in Cannes, France.


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About the International Tennis Hall of Fame
The International Tennis Hall of Fame (ITHF) is a non-profit organization that preserves the history of tennis and celebrates its champions to inspire excellence across generations globally. Induction into the Hall of Fame is the Ultimate Honor in Tennis, and to date has been presented to 267 Hall of Famers representing 28 nations. Located in Newport, Rhode Island in the United States, the Hall of Fame honors these legends and chronicles the sport’s history in an interactive museum, digital experiences and global programming. For more information on the International Tennis Hall of Fame, visit tennisfame.com. 


About Advent
Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, Advent is an experience design firm specializing in research, technology and storytelling to create immersive experiences for some of the world’s largest brands, including the Dallas Cowboys, the PGA of America, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Las Vegas A’s, InterMiami CF and a host of higher education institutions (the University of Southern California, the University of Texas, the University of Oregon). Headquartered in Nashville, Advent has completed more than 2,500 projects globally: visit https://adventmovespeople.com/projects/


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