Where does an 18-year-old in Fort Lauderdale end up on a Sunday in mid-December if they are good enough to win the same junior title as Chris Evert, John McEnroe, Roger Federer and Coco Gauff? This year the answer is a clay court off NE 12th Avenue, inside Holiday Park, a few blocks from the front doors of Victoria Park. The Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships return to the Jimmy Evert Tennis Center from December 4 to 13, 2026. It is the tournament's second year at the rebuilt center, and the first in which it has no novelty to lean on.
That second-year status matters. In 2025 the event was a debut. In 2026 it is a fixture, set into a park whose other half will be a construction site until next summer.
A Tournament That Paid for Its Own Courts
The move from Plantation's Frank Veltri Tennis Center to Holiday Park came with a check attached. The Orange Bowl's November 2025 announcement describes a $9.5 million partnership. The City of Fort Lauderdale put in about $8 million, the Orange Bowl added a $1.5 million Legacy Gift and the USTA provided support. In return, the boys' and girls' 16s and 18s moved to the Jimmy Evert Tennis Center.
The money shows up in specific places. USTA Florida's account of the project says all 20 clay courts were rebuilt with a subsurface irrigation system. The work also added a 700-seat stadium court named for Chris Evert, who trained there as a child, along with LED lighting, new shade structures, benches, chilled fountains and renovated restrooms. The center picked up a 2026 USTA Outstanding Facility Award in the large public tennis center category. It was one of seven Florida winners, and the awards were handed out in New York during the 2026 US Open.
On December 8, 2025, in the middle of the first Fort Lauderdale tournament, Evert unveiled the stadium court bearing her name. The Orange Bowl called the renovated center the event's permanent home. USTA Florida said at the time that the 16s and 18s would stay at Jimmy Evert "for the foreseeable future."
So the December crowd on NE 12th Avenue is now a permanent part of the calendar. The courts were partly built for it.
How the Ten Days Unfold
The tournament runs as two overlapping events that finish a day apart. The 16-and-under draw starts first and ends first. The 18-and-under draw is the ITF J500 event, with boys' and girls' fields, and it starts a day later. Junior wheelchair play joins in the final four days. The official player guide lists the 2026 schedule:
| Division | Qualifying | Main draw | Finals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 & Under singles | Dec. 4 to 5 | Dec. 6 to 12 | Saturday, Dec. 12 |
| 16 & Under doubles | n/a | Dec. 7 to 12 | Saturday, Dec. 12 |
| 18 & Under singles | Dec. 5 to 6 | Dec. 7 to 13 | Sunday, Dec. 13 |
| 18 & Under doubles | n/a | Dec. 8 to 13 | Sunday, Dec. 13 |
| Wheelchair | n/a | Dec. 10 to 13 | Dec. 13 |
The schedule puts both singles finals on the second weekend. Both junior draws are in main-draw play from December 7, and from December 10 through 12 the wheelchair draw joins them, putting every division on site at once. Qualifying on December 4 to 6 is the quietest stretch and the easiest time to wander between courts. Spectator details and daily order of play come from the tournament itself through orangebowl.org and ustaorangebowl.com.
What the First Year Looked Like
The 2025 edition, played December 5 to 14, set the tone for the new site. Rain disrupted the schedule badly enough that Tennis Recruiting's account of the 16s described a compressed schedule. Americans won both the boys' and girls' 16s singles titles. In the 18s, Tennis Recruiting reported that a Dutch player won the boys' title over a New Yorker, 6-3, 6-3, and a player from China won the girls' title, 6-4, 6-1.
The USTA noted that 2025 was the first time the Orange Bowl and the ITF Wheelchair Tennis Junior Masters were held at the same time on the same site, with American juniors taking three titles. In the 2026 player guide, wheelchair play again sits in the tournament's final four days.
The tournament's own champions list explains why people show up for teenagers. Among its 18s winners:
- Chris Evert, 1969 and 1970
- John McEnroe, 1976
- Roger Federer, 1998
- Coco Gauff, 2018
Evert's two titles now share a park with the stadium court named for her.
The Other Half of Holiday Park
The tennis center is finished. Much of the park around it is not. The city's Holiday Park page says Phase II improvements began in May 2026: a new playground, dog park upgrades, shade for the baseball dugouts, wayfinding signage, landscaping and walking trail work. Completion is expected by summer 2027, weather permitting. The Victoria Park Civic Association hosted the groundbreaking on May 29.
During tournament week, then, Holiday Park will hold a finished international venue and an active work zone at the same time. Per the city, while construction continues:
- The playground area stays closed.
- The western portion of the dog park stays closed.
- Parts of the walking paths have posted detours.
- Construction noise may come during work hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The rest of the park keeps its regular rhythm. Holiday Park is open 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Its six outdoor pickleball courts run 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily. Outside tournament week, the Jimmy Evert Tennis Center keeps its regular hours of 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends.
Across the park, the Baptist Health IcePlex, the Florida Panthers' official practice facility, offers public skating on its dedicated public rink. Sessions require advance registration, and the posted price is $18 general admission and $14 for military, plus $5 for skate rental. Its Panthers Learn to Play program runs November 14, 2026 through January 2, 2027, alongside Thanksgiving-break hockey and skating camps.
The Same Week at War Memorial
The War Memorial Auditorium at 800 NE 8th Street books its own season in the same corner of the park. Its current calendar lists Dark Star Orchestra on December 3 and 4, the night before and the first day of Orange Bowl qualifying, and Beartooth on December 5. Ticketed-event parking at the auditorium is complimentary in the field lot across from the venue, with attendants directing traffic.
After the holidays, the calendar turns to the Orchid Society show on January 8 to 10 and The String Cheese Incident on January 15. Venue calendars shift, so the auditorium's events page is the place to confirm dates.
Over the first two weekends of December, concerts at the auditorium overlap with the first days of qualifying, finals fall on December 12 and 13, and the fenced playground and dog park section stay in place through all of it. If the city's summer 2027 target holds, the new playground will be open before the tournament's third December.
If you live near Holiday Park and want to talk about what a permanent international event on NE 12th Avenue means for the streets around it, Tyler Tuchow and the Fortune | Christie's Las Olas team follow this corner of Fort Lauderdale closely. Request a private consultation, and we can walk through it with you before the finals weekend.
