First she came back from retirement. Then she won World Cups at 41. Then she survived a career-threatening Olympic crash. This weekend, Lindsey Vonn added another unexpected line to the résumé: tennis umpire, and occasional opponent, at the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Vonn opened Friday’s Celebrity Pro Classic on the grass courts of the Newport Casino from the umpire’s chair, then stepped onto the court herself during induction weekend for Roger Federer and Mary Carillo. Organizers had billed the skiing champion as the celebrity official who would kick off the exhibition. She left with a caption that immediately spread among fans:
“First time as an umpire… not sure is something I’m good at but we had a blast.”
The joke landed because the rest of the day did not look like a novelty act. Dressed in all white, Vonn worked the chair, learned the rhythms of the court alongside Hall of Famer Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, and later won a few points against genuine Grand Slam champions, including Garbiñe Muguruza. She called that part a privilege.
The guest list around her was a living museum of tennis. Federer headlined. John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova, the Bryan brothers, Stefan Edberg, Lleyton Hewitt and Gabriela Sabatini also took part before Saturday’s formal induction ceremony. Vonn was the only alpine skier in the group — and, for a few hours, the person in charge of the score.
The appearance fits a pattern that has followed Vonn for more than a year. After a five-year retirement she returned to the World Cup, won again, qualified for a fifth Olympics, then crashed in the Cortina downhill and spent months in hospitals and rehab. Tennis players were among those who publicly backed her recovery. In Newport, she showed up for their sport instead.
Nobody is suggesting Vonn is about to join the ITF officiating roster. She said herself she is not sure the chair is her calling. That was the point. The same athlete who once raced at more than 80 miles an hour spent an afternoon calling lets and trading shots with Hall of Famers, then shrugged it off with a grin.
Ski racing. Comebacks. Cycling after surgery. Now a tennis court in Newport. The latest chapter is lighter than the last ones. It is also the same story: Vonn keeps finding another thing to try — and making it look easy enough to laugh about.
