Katrina Adams knows about breaking barriers.

A two-time All American at Northwestern, Adams made history as the first African American, first former pro and youngest person to ever serve as USTA President.

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A dedicated serve-and-volleyer, Adams played 12 years on the WTA Tour before retiring from the pro circuit in 1999. The winner of 20 WTA doubles titles worked for USTA as a national coach for four years before becoming a tennis commentator and executive director of the Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program where she still serves.

The ITF Vice President discusses her time as USTA President, her work with the ITF and efforts to empower women to work in tennis in a USTA Eastern interview with Natalie Dagnall.  



"[Tennis] gave me an education on life," Adams says. "The life experiences that I learned traveling around the globe. When you go into this sport as a professional you immediately become an adult. You're your own CEO and you have to figure out how to manage your own enterprise, which is yourself.

"Building life-long relationships with some of the greatest players of all time and some of the greatest administrators of all time; the network you develop and build you carry with you the rest of your life."