Love of Tennis Runs Deep for
USTA Official Terry Chan

For Terry Chan, the game of tennis isn’t just a hobby or vocation and a casual game just to be played on weekends. The love of tennis for Chan runs much deeper than that. You could say it even borders on being an obsession. 

“Tennis is a big part of me, and I love it so much,” said Chan, a certified USTA Official and umpire. “I play it, coach it, captain Adult League teams. Sometimes I play in the morning and then I coach in the afternoon and then I officiate at night. I’m totally surrounded by the game.” 

The longtime Alhambra resident Chan has loved the game ever since he was a child growing up in New York City after his family had immigrated from Hong Kong in the 1970s. It was the height of the tennis boom and Chan caught his first glimpses of John McEnroe facing off against Bjorn Borg- and was mesmerized by what he saw.

Chan picked up a racquet for the first time in high school and batted the ball around with friends. But he said he wasn’t able to play regularly or improve because playing tennis in New York City as a youth is “financially impossible” because of the fees to play indoors for half of the year. “From November to April the weather is impossible to play tennis outdoors,” he said.

It wasn’t until Chan was deciding on colleges that he chose to attend a school in a warm climate so he could pursue his tennis dream, and it was on the courts on the campus of San Francisco State where Chan’s love for tennis began.

“Most of the kids here in SoCal are dying to move to New York and Boston for college,” Chan said. “But I went the other way as I grew up on the East Coast and moved out West for college.”

Chan obtained his bachelor’s degree in business management and headed South where he spent 20 years working in information technology, including a stint working for the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).

Early in his time in Southern California, Chan heard about a popular tennis destination for lovers of the game just like him. The legendary coach Vic Braden’s Tennis College in Coto De Caza was a perfect fit for Chan, who attended the camps on numerous occasions and struck up a friendship with Braden that extended well beyond the court. 

“Vic fixed my serve and my backhand and we ended up becoming personal friends and would call each other every now and then just to chat,” Chan said. “He was a wonderful person and I’m so glad I met him and got to spend so much time on the court with him.”

While Chan often thinks back on those precious times spent with Braden, he said being an official has taught him even more about the game than some would imagine. 

“Over the years of being on the court as much as I am, I have observed and improved my game by being an official because I watch a lot of tennis in a single day,” Chan said. “A committed junior or college player will play one match a day and say that they have more experience than most umpires, but that’s not true. While they are playing one match a day, we are chairing multiple matches in one day and I can observe how successful players hit the ball and how they contain themselves and how they react in different situations.”

Chan manages a busy travel schedule, especially in the summer months, and works USTA events, as well as UTR pro tournaments. He doesn’t like to work close to home, choosing instead to travel one to two hours away.

“I specifically do not want to work near where I live because I play tennis there and compete in USTA Leagues there,” said Chan, who has worked matches with top players like Alex Michelsen, Learner Tien, and Jenson Brooksby. “I don’t want to have any kind of conflict of interest where players know me or the organizer knows me. If I’m outside that area nobody knows me and this will ensure that I would be impartial in my officiating. It’s not a policy, it’s just my personal preference. I just want to avoid any kind of potential problems.”

A former professional photographer specializing in weddings, Chan has also worked red carpet events for SAG. A devastating accident where he was struck by a truck while on a bike ride close to his home 10 years ago and severely dislocated his knee gave Chan time to pause and realize how he wanted to spend his time once he had fully recovered.

“They had to re-construct it because it was pretty damaged,” Chan explained. “I knew I probably wouldn’t be playing tennis or being active again, so I thought it would be a great idea to stay near the tennis community by being an official.”

He continued: “While I was laid up in bed for about a year and a half, I finished my online training and as soon as I was done with that they contacted me to do an in-person training.”

Through hard work and dedication, Chan said he has recovered fully from his injury and does not walk with a limp. “I’m a pretty determined person and I was determined to be as best as I can be and as normal as I can be. I wanted to walk without a limp because at the time I was only about 50 years old and I thought that’s no way to live for the next 20, 25 years walking with a limp.” 

Chan goes as far as to call the accident a blessing in disguise as it pushed him to become a tennis official. He said he most enjoyed chairing senior matches, as well as wheelchair events in which he states he is “amazed at how well they hit the ball even when they are physically handicapped.” 

When you ask Chan how long he feels he would like to continue officiating, he said until “I can’t see the ball anymore.” He said he’s still going strong after 10-plus years. “Even though the days are often 12 or 13 hours long, I’m up again the next day and ready to go because I love the game. I love doing what I do.”