Dr. Brian Hainline on Tennis, Health and the Future of the Sport

Few figures in American tennis have worked as extensively at the intersection of medicine, athlete health and sports leadership as Dr. Brian Hainline, a pioneer in the development of the Chief Medical Officer role across major sports organizations.

A longtime sports neurologist and tennis leader, Hainline served for 16 years as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of the US Open and later as CMO of the USTA before becoming the NCAA’s first CMO in 2013. He went on to serve as USTA Chairman of the Board and President from 2023 through 2024.

Hainline recently spoke with Florida Tennis about his path through sports medicine, tennis as a public good, the research connecting the sport with longevity, and the importance of making tennis accessible to players of all abilities.

In Conversation with Dr. Brian Hainline

Guillermo Morales-Rubert: How did you become the first NCAA Chief Medical Officer?

Dr. Brian Hainline: I believe it was paved in a significant way by my being the part-time Chief Medical Officer of the USTA. I had served as the CMO of the US Open for 16 years and then was CMO of the USTA from 2008 to 2012.

The NCAA job came up, and I had already done a lot of work in sports, not just tennis. I was a ringside physician in boxing and had written a book on doping and sport, Drugs and the Athlete. I think that boxing experience, combined with operating at such a high level within the US Open and USTA, was instrumental.

Someone called me and said, “Brian, there’s this job you should really consider applying for.” I applied, and I just reached for the stars.

I said, “I think the NCAA has an opportunity to become the example of what it means to have health and safety and governance all for the student-athlete and to be a model governing body.”

That pitch worked well. They gave me an incredible amount of flexibility, and it was almost like a blank slate.

Morales-Rubert: You were a pioneer.

Hainline: Yes, the USTA and NCAA really paved the way, and I happened to be fortunate to be there at the right time and place.

Morales-Rubert: How do we advance our personal health through sport and advance the understanding of sport as a public good?

Hainline: Sport really is a phenomenal opportunity, not just for physical health, but for mental health and even for academics and productivity.

We have so much evidence that people who are active in sport and develop what we call physical literacy benefit in many, many ways.

Youth sport is becoming increasingly specialized, and it’s also becoming increasingly professionalized. Those are danger points.

We really have to have a comprehensive approach from the top down, and I’m talking about the very top, even the President of the United States and Congress. Ideally, we would have some central oversight of sport and say we must make sport accessible for everyone — every person, every ability and every background.

That’s not only going to be good for the individual, but it’s going to be good for our society. Sport teaches you so many lessons, and the evidence is unequivocal that sport is good for you physically, mentally and cognitively.

Morales-Rubert: So a minister of sport could be a Cabinet position, you would say?

Hainline: Ideally, yes.

Morales-Rubert: You served as USTA President from 2023 to 2024. What accomplishment are you most proud of?

Hainline: The thing I’m most proud of is that we really rallied around a new mission statement.

The mission of the USTA for decades had been to “promote and develop the growth of tennis,” which is fine. But it doesn’t really have a broader purpose.

So we changed the mission to “Growing tennis to inspire healthier people and communities everywhere.”

We said, look, tennis should become the model sport. If we grow tennis, it’s not just that we’re growing tennis and the numbers look good, but that we’re actually inspiring individuals and communities toward healthier ways of living.

And it’s not just physical health. It’s health in every way, even communal health.

The thing I’m most proud of really is the messaging around not just tennis, but how sport is so vital to our country and to society.

Morales-Rubert: You’ve also spoken about studies suggesting that people who play tennis live longer. Please expand on that.

Hainline: There were a couple of studies that were very interesting.

One study looked at more than 80,000 people over many years, and another looked at more than 8,000. Both found significant health benefits associated with racquet sports.

One in particular compared tennis with a number of other sports and activities. This study found — and it was a pretty well-done study — that you live more than nine years longer if you play tennis than if you don’t.

Some other sports increased longevity by seven years or six years, but tennis was definitely at the top.

We took an in-depth look at that data, and it could be criticized. One could say, “Well, maybe it’s because tennis players have more access to healthcare, and they tend to be wealthier and more affluent.”

My reply is: if that’s the case, then let’s make certain that we make tennis accessible to everyone.

Therefore, we need to improve the infrastructure across our country and make tennis available to people of all abilities and backgrounds.

Morales-Rubert: At my club, I have several players over 90 whose goal is to surpass 100 and keep playing tennis. I can see how instrumental tennis is for longevity.

Hainline: Yes. I hope to keep going into the 75s, 80s, 85s, 90s and 95s. And yes, it would be great one day to reach the 100s.

Morales-Rubert: Can you talk about wheelchair tennis and its importance to you?

Hainline: Wheelchair tennis is really near and dear to me.

Many years ago, I chaired the summit that wrote the rules of eligibility for wheelchair tennis. Therefore, it’s always been an important part of my life.

The goal now is not just for wheelchair tennis to be at a very high level from a player-development point of view, but to continue looking at ways to make the sport more accessible.

And it’s not just wheelchair tennis. It’s really about individuals who have different types of disabilities. The larger goal is making tennis accessible to as many people as possible.

Continuing His Impact

Hainline continues to play an influential role in tennis and sports medicine. He currently serves as Immediate Past President of the USTA and is in his sixth term on the USTA Board of Directors. Internationally, he serves on the World Tennis Board of Directors as a Vice President. He is also Clinical Professor of Neurology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

Hainline is also the author, co-author or editor of numerous medical and sports publications, including Back Pain Understood: A Cutting-Edge Approach to Healing Your Back, Concussion: What Do I Do Now?, Sports Neurology, Positioning Youth Tennis for Success, Drugs and the Athlete and Neurological Complications of Pregnancy.

Written by Florida Tennis contributor Guillermo Morales-Rubert. Sources: Interview with Dr. Brian Hainline; USTA; World Tennis; NCAA; NYU Grossman School of Medicine; Mayo Clinic Proceedings; British Journal of Sports Medicine. Photos courtesy of brianhainlinemd.com.

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