Tennis: Mill Valley standout Grumet earns USTA honor

From preps to pros, and everything in between, the Marin County tennis community collectively had one of its finest years ever in 2024.

It was just announced that Mill Valley’s Gus Grumet has been named USTA Northern California Junior Player of the Year.

Grumet won the prestigious USTA Boys 16 National Championship in Kalamazoo, Mich., in August. Amid his 20-match win streak last summer, Grumet also claimed titles at the USTA Boys 16 Clay Court Nationals in Delray Beach, Fla., and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junior tournament in Orlando.

Nicasio’s Steve Jackson, who coaches Grumet at Cal Club in San Francisco, says Grumet’s remarkable accomplishments testify to staying home to train and attending high school in person.

“He’s living, walking, breathing truth that you can have a normal life and still be one of the best junior players in the world, if not the country,” said Jackson. “For a kid who goes to school — brick and mortar every day — trains at a club, works with his club pro — it shows you don’t need to quit school, do everything online and travel around the world at a huge expense to your parents to be successful.”

The 17-year-old is ranked No. 12 in the nation for 18-and-under boys and 402 in the ITF. (He finished 2024 as top-ranked nationally in 16s.) Grumet has already accepted a scholarship to play for Stanford after he graduates from San Francisco’s University High in 2026.

Another anomaly in the Grumet story is that he plays high school tennis. Last spring, he led University to the 2024 North Coast Section Division II championship, winning the finals over Branson. (Branson had beaten Grumet’s University team for the 2023 NCS title.)

In the 2024 NCS girls Division II final last fall, Branson won its second NCS championship in four years. The Redwood girls were edged in the NCS D-I final after winning in 2023.

Marin’s junior and high school tennis successes are not lost on the county’s seniors. In February, Marin sent three teams to the USTA 65-and-over national invitational tournaments in Surprise, Ariz. Tiburon Peninsula Club won national championships for both the 9.0 men’s and women’s divisions. The captains were Dan Grossman and Amy Rennert, respectively.

The Boyle Park 65 8.0 women’s team advanced to nationals last month for the second time in three seasons and finished fifth. Team member Mary McLain of Mill Valley says “playing for my team at nationals was a thrill-of-a-lifetime experience.”

“It was a complete joy-filled memory,” says McLain. “I enjoyed every moment on court. I was proud of myself as I served for the winning game in the second set and for the final point of the 10-point tiebreaker. After the win, I felt I was on cloud nine and had a sense of wellbeing and complete satisfaction.”

Chrissie Costamagna, coach of The Branson School girls and boys teams, captained two adult teams that won NorCals to advance to nationals. Her Harbor Point 40 4.5 women’s team finished a very close second and her Harbor Point 55 9.0 women’s team just missed out on a trip to the national semifinals. Marin Country Club won the 40 4.0 women’s NorCal championship to earn its national debut.

The Marin Championships

The 49th annual Marin Championships are set for June 3-8 with action taking place at Mill Valley Tennis Club, Harbor Point and Belvedere.

Last year, the Level 2 national tournament set a record with 285 entries in 41 divisions. Competition is held for men’s and women’s singles and doubles in the 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80 and 85 age groups, along with mixed doubles. Players may enter more than one division as long as it’s in a lower age bracket. Prize money is offered in all divisions.

Tiburon Challenger

The Tiburon Challenger keeps Marin tennis fans connected to top players in the world, drawing capacity crowds every year. The 2025 tournament is set for Sept. 28-Oct. 5.

Alumni of the tournament include No. 10 Tommy Paul, No. 14 Ben Shelton, No. 18 Francis Tiafoe, No. 21 Felix Auger-Aliassime, No. 23 Sebastian Korda and No. 34 Alex Michelsen, along with top doubles players.

Jackson, who launched the Challenger in 2003 when he was the pro at TPC, has been part of the Marin tennis community since 1997. He raves about the county’s clubs, public courts and pros who have remained in the area to support the sport.

“Marin as an epicenter for tennis — absolutely,” says Jackson. “The fact that TPC is turning out national title champions — sending teams to nationals almost every year — I think it’s awesome. Marin is a great place to play tennis.”