Customer Spotlight: Lindsay Whipple Kallas Is an All-American Mom (and Tennis Player)

Lindsay Whipple Kallas poses with daughters Lauren and Brooke after being inducted into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame.

For Lindsay Whipple Kallas, tennis has been a lifelong passion and a family affair.

Before she was a mom to three tennis players, she won three Maine high school state singles titles and played for both the College of William and Mary and Bowdoin College. A member of the Maine Sports Hall of Fame, she still plays tennis competitively today and enjoys watching her daughters Courtney, Lauren and Brooke play at Holy Cross, the University of Rochester and Texas Christian University, respectively.

We caught up with Lindsay to talk about her tennis journey, family and more.

When did you start playing tennis, and why have you stuck with the sport?

I probably started playing when I was 10. My parents exposed me to many different sports but I think tennis just stuck because as an individual sport, I worked as hard as I wanted to. I grew up in a small town in Maine — Falmouth — and Maine wasn’t at that time really big into tennis. I grew up playing against men and high school boys for competition, and my mom took me to tournaments all over New England.

I played one year for Bowdoin College in Maine and went as far as I could at the Division III level. I wanted to play Division I, so I took a semester off and trained in Florida, which was exciting because back at that time Andre Agassi, Monica Seles, and David Wheaton were down there so it was fun to be able to train with them. I played Monica Seles in a tournament, so that was kind of cool. That was before she was number one in the world. After, I transferred to William and Mary in Virginia and my team there was the first one to go to the NCAA National Championship.

Do you still play competitively?

I still love to compete, and I still play USTA team tennis. I’ve always loved singles, but I’ve played a little bit more doubles over the years because I have a shoulder injury from wear and tear. I may have to also start playing some pickleball because it’s easier on the joints and would be a lot easier on my shoulder.

All three of Lindsay’s daughters play collegiate tennis, including Courtney (shown above) at Holy Cross. Lauren competes at the University of Rochester and Brooke at Texas Christian University.

Was your passion for tennis something you always wanted to pass down to your daughters?

I definitely wanted to expose them to the sport, but they also tried various sports. I probably gave them a little bit more of a nudge for tennis because I had such a good experience growing up. I think after sixth grade, they focused more on tennis than other sports and then they decided they wanted to play college. They played high school tennis for Benilde-St. Margaret’s, and for two years they all played together on the same team.

Any advice for young people starting out playing tennis?

It's an individual sport, but you can also play it at the team level, like on your high school team, junior high school team, and it's very fun. And that's the thing — you want to keep it fun and just work hard at it like you would with your studies.

What keeps you coming back to Michael Lynne’s?

I actually went to Michael Lynne’s before I had kids. The expertise they have in tennis — in anything from the shoes to rackets and stringing — has always been top notch. They meet all the needs we have for tennis, and the level of customer service is second to none. It’s fun to shop there because they have a great team of people, and it’s just a little family whenever you walk in.