Carson's USTA Training Center is set to become the temporary epicenter of Olympic tennis at the Los Angeles 2028 Games, and the clock is already ticking on how players will get there. Under the current timetable, athletes will have only a few days to bolt from Wimbledon's grass to Carson's hard courts, a compressed turnaround that is already raising questions about travel, recovery, and whether some stars will chase medals or stick with late-season grass events. Local teams and venue operators are already gaming out court operations and logistics while LA28 works to lock in the final competition plan.
A Tight Timetable
On July 24, The New York Times reported that mixed doubles in Carson is scheduled to open July 19 to 20, with singles set to start July 20, just days after Wimbledon, which the paper notes is due to finish on July 16. The Times called the arrangement a 'Wimbledon race against time' and detailed that the Olympic singles draws will use standard 64-player fields, with 32-team doubles and a 16-pair mixed doubles event, as outlined by The New York Times.
Where They'll Play
Olympic tennis is slated for the USTA Training Center - West at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, the USTA's high-performance campus and an existing host for national events. The USTA lists its West training hub at 18400 Avalon Blvd. and highlights the surrounding Dignity Health Sports Park complex, whose multi-sport layout and spectator facilities LA28 plans to adapt for the Games. For venue details, see the Carson campus listing from USTA Training Center - West.
Organizers' Schedule Still In Flux
LA28's own competition schedule, in the version posted March 16, shows tennis sessions at the Carson courts beginning July 21 and labels the timetable as 'subject to change.' The official session grid lays out center-court and outer-court play across the Games window and will govern ticketing and operations once it is locked, according to LA28's competition schedule.
Medalists To Watch
Whoever handles the sprint from London to Carson will be chasing a field already packed with fresh Olympic champions. From Paris 2024, Novak Djokovic and Zheng Qinwen arrive as the reigning men's and women's singles gold medalists; Matthew Ebden and John Peers won men's doubles; Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini took women's doubles; and Katerina Siniakova with Tomas Machac captured mixed doubles. Those results are documented across event coverage and federation reports, including BBC Sport, BBC Sport, Tennis Australia, WTA and ITF Tennis, and they form the short list of likely headliners in Carson.
Qualification Quirks
Qualification will not be as simple as reading down the rankings list. Under the emerging framework, a handful of special places will be awarded outside direct rankings, with recent coverage describing spots for continental tournament winners plus a very small number reserved for former Olympic gold medalists or Grand Slam champions. That allocation tweak, along with the addition of continental pathways that include the Pacific Games, could reshape late-cycle selections and is already being chewed over in federation summaries and industry reporting, as reported by The First Serve.
What This Means Locally
For Carson and nearby neighborhoods, the event will funnel spectators, teams and media into the Dignity Health campus and along Avalon Boulevard for the full run of the tennis sessions. Traffic control, park-and-ride setups and shuttle routes are central to local planning, with the venue's existing event infrastructure slated to be adapted for temporary show courts and expanded operations. LA28 and local partners say they will publish detailed transport and access guidance as sessions and ticketing are finalized, and residents should expect a short, intense burst of Games-time activity around the complex, as noted by Dignity Health Sports Park.
What To Watch Next
Between now and 2028, two threads will be worth watching. One is the definitive LA28 session timetable, which organizers stress remains provisional and will be updated as planning continues. The other is how top players ultimately balance Wimbledon ambitions with Olympic goals on the opposite coast. For the latest session dates and court assignments, fans and teams are being pointed to the official grid in LA28's competition schedule.
