A tennis player has been awarded $9 million in damages by a jury in federal court in Florida after accusing the U.S. Tennis Association of failing to protect her from a coach she said sexually abused her at one of its training centers when she was 19
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| FILE - A tennis ball on the court during the first round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2011. A tennis player has been awarded $9 million in damages by a jury in federal court in Florida after accusing the U.S. Tennis Association of failing to protect her from a coach she said sexually abused her at one of its training centers when she was 19. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File) |
FILE - A tennis ball on the court during the first round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2011. A tennis player has been awarded $9 million in damages by a jury in federal court in Florida after accusing the U.S. Tennis Association of failing to protect her from a coach she said sexually abused her at one of its training centers when she was 19. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A tennis player was awarded $9 million in damages by a jury in federal court in Florida after accusing the U.S. Tennis Association of failing to protect her from a coach she said sexually abused her at one of its training centers when she was a teenager.
The lawsuit, filed by Kylie McKenzie in March 2022, said Anibal Aranda, who was employed by the sport's national governing body for about seven years and later fired, used his position as a USTA coach to get access to vulnerable female athletes and commit sexual battery against them.
“I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. I feel validated,” McKenzie said in a statement emailed Tuesday by one of her lawyers, Amy Judkins. “It was very hard, but I feel now that it was all worth it. I hope I can be an example for other girls to speak out even when it’s difficult.”
The AP generally doesn’t name people who say they are victims of sexual assault, but McKenzie agreed to let her identity be used in news coverage about her lawsuit.
Her lawsuit said the USTA negligently failed to protect her from sexual assaults and was negligent in keeping Aranda as a coach after he sexually assaulted a USTA employee.
As a junior player, McKenzie — who is now 25 — reached a career-high ranking of No. 33 in 2016. The year before, she compiled a 20-6 record in junior competition, including victories over Sofia Kenin, who would go on to win the championship at the 2020 Australian Open, and Tamara Zidansek, later a semifinalist at the 2021 French Open
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