College tennis in the USA has long been a pathway for hopeful professionals – and now, it seems, more than ever.

At The Championships this year, there are no fewer than 26 men in the singles draw who played at least one term (semester) at an American university, and nine women. Plus, there are plenty more in the doubles, particularly on the men's side.

The world No.10s Ben Shelton and Emma Navarro (main picture) are the current top-ranked players who have taken the college pathway before turning pro.

Shelton attended the University of Florida, where he was both an NCAA singles (in 2022) and team (2021) champion, under the guidance of his father Bryan, who himself played college tennis at Georgia Tech before reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon in 1994.

The 22-year-old Ben has already usurped his father, reaching two Grand Slam semi-finals. His father is a huge proponent of US college tennis.

“The system has evolved over the years and has become one of the premier ways to develop your character and your game,” he said.

“What an opportunity, not to mention the education and all the things that come along with being on a team. Seems easier to find the joy in playing this game when you have teammates and a whole university that supports you.

“These schools are offering their players to play some pro events during the school terms, which gives them the best of both worlds.

“It’s hard to see the downside and now we have a lot of great examples that have shown you can do both without sacrificing anything. Actually quite the opposite. Every federation should be supporting this system.”

Navarro, meanwhile, played college tennis at the University of Virginia and won the NCAA singles championship in 2021.

Last year, the 24-year-old became the first women’s singles NCAA champion to reach the US Open semi-finals.

Navarro has said in the past she’s been inspired by Danielle Collins, an Australian Open finalist who transferred from the University of Florida to Virginia, where she was twice crowned NCAA singles champion.

Navarro told the ITF: “She went to college for four years and is now obviously doing amazing things on the Tour.”

Once considered a somewhat ineffective route to a career as a top professional, particularly in the women’s game, collegiate tennis is increasingly regarded as an opportunity.

Most college athletes receive full scholarships, benefitting from coaching, wonderful facilities, strong competition and an education, plus ‘name, image and likeness’ income.

For Diana Shnaider, the decision to sign on at North Carolina State was driven by a lack of financial resources or a training base to enable going it alone. During her year at NC State, 2022, she impressed at the Australian Open, reaching the quarter-finals. The following year, she moved into the world’s top 100.

“I improved a lot in college,” she said in 2023. “I know how to play those tricky points under pressure where you don’t think, you automatically know where to go. I learned how to play more aggressively, how to volley better, how to play a doubles match properly and how to keep up my energy.”

Players today tend to stay in the game longer than ever before. There appears to be less of a rush to hit the professional ranks and a greater willingness to spend more time maturing, developing physically and having a team to lean on in a largely individual sport, which many admit can be lonely at times in the professional ranks.

Chris Mahoney, the Australian coach, played successfully at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He now coaches 19-year-old Maya Joint, who recently spent a term at the University of Texas and has just won her second title this year (and in her career) at Eastbourne, beating Ons Jabeur, Emma Raducanu and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova along the way.

Mahoney also believes the college route is a good solution.

“For any players not ready to quickly move through the Futures and Challenger level (which is the majority coming out of juniors), the college pathway is an extremely good option.

“It provides a supportive, competitive and cost-efficient environment in which players can continue their development amongst like-minded athletes from various different sports.”