Adults who have regular contact with or authority over minor athletes in USTA programs, events, or tournaments must be in compliance with Safe Play requirements. This includes undergoing background checks and completing education on preventing misconduct in sports. The following groups are subject to these requirements:

• USTA Staff
• USTA Certified Officials
• Independent contractors falling within the definition of a Participant
• Volunteer coaches for USTA Junior Team Tennis
• All Net Generation tennis providers
• Pro Circuit Tournament Directors
• USTA Junior Sanctioned Tournament Directors
• USTA Board of Directors
• USTA staff tennis professionals
• Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day Volunteers
• US Open Volunteers
• USTA National Campus Ambassadors
• Davis Cup and Fed Cup Volunteers
• Anti-Doping Chaperones during the US Open USTA Board of Directors
• USTA National Tennis Center Incorporated tennis professional staff

In October 2023, as part of our ongoing efforts to continually improve our standards for player safety, the USTA retained the law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP to conduct an independent review of our policies and procedures for preventing, reporting, and responding to reports of abuse, including sexual misconduct, and to make recommendations to the USTA. The full finding of that review, without modifications or omissions, can be found here.

 The Debevoise review was focused on the effectiveness and transparency of both the ways in which the USTA works to keep athletes safe from abuse—such as trainings, background screenings and member communications—and our policies for responding when we receive a report of misconduct. 

 The review found that our current policies are in full compliance with those required by the U.S. Center for SafeSport and also provides important recommendations to help us continually elevate our standards. The USTA is working to implement these recommendations as thoroughly and swiftly as possible. 

 As always, the USTA continues to encourage any athlete, member, volunteer, or employee who experiences any type of inappropriate or abusive conduct to report that conduct. There are several ways to make such reports, and they can be found here: Safe Play: Report Suspicious Tennis Activity | USTA.com .

 Safety is our highest priority at the USTA, and this report is an important step in bringing additional rigor to our processes and to further ensuring a safe environment for all those involved in the sport of tennis.