By James Tanner

Tucked snugly between a nail salon and a sushi joint on Geary Boulevard, a stone’s throw from the bustling Park Presidio Boulevard, is Golden State Tennis. This locally owned nook for all things tennis (and pickleball) is a local player’s one-stop-shop. 

Right off the bat, you are greeted by a wall of rackets – they are well illuminated by the natural light, their frames glistening and beckoning one to give something new a try.

 They have everything – bags, shoes and, of course, fresh cans of tennis balls waiting to be cracked open for another game. The shop has plenty of racket-related services, from racket stringing to grips. They even have tennis balls past their prime in a dedicated basket, ready for a new life as a dog’s favorite toy. 

Gordon Lum is the owner and founder of Golden State Tennis. He has been running the shop since 2018. Behind the counter, he expertly weaves racket strings together, rhythmically moving and precisely adjusting the stringing machine, practicing the art of bringing new rackets to life. 

Having grown up in North Beach, Lum learned to play tennis at what was then North Beach Playground, now Joe DiMaggio Playground. 

“I started playing tennis in my early teens, around 14,” Lum said. “There used to be people there who lent out equipment. I started playing tennis because I have an older brother. It was a sibling rivalry.” 

Lum’s youth in tennis eventually led him to pursue it in high school, playing on Galileo High School’s varsity team for four years. Being a passionate young kid in the City, but with limited funds, he learned to string and maintain rackets himself. 

Lum’s first foray into the tennis business was when he was in college, where he started working for another local sports store, the now-defunct Lombardi Sports, (which once operated on Clement Street). Lombardi’s was where he honed his racket-stringing skills from a job of necessity into a career. 

“When I got hired there, I told them I knew how to string,” Lum said. “But when I strung my first racket, they told me I wasn’t very good at it. It took a little while for my skills to meet the standards for retail.” 

Once in the business, Lum stayed and strung rackets for the people of San Francisco at Lombardi’s for nine years, before moving on to work for a tech company for six years. Sales in tech, however, wasn’t something he wanted to do forever. 

“Working in tech, you get kind of burnt out, doing the same stuff all the time, along with the dynamics and the politics,” he said. “I started to think about what made me happy, what benefited my mental health. I decided this would be the best route for me, and it worked out really well.” 

Having previously run a smaller operation in the Outer Sunset District, Lum moved his store to the Geary location in 2019 after it proved to be a successful concept. After the pandemic, he found tennis thriving in the community. As a volunteer board member of the San Francisco Tennis Coalition, he advocates for tennis in San Francisco outside of just providing goods and services, having helped raise money to renovate the Goldman Tennis Courts in Golden Gate Park. 

“We’re working really hard to make sure people are playing tennis in the City.” 

Lum said being part of the tennis community has led him to meet lots of wonderful people, make friends that become customers and find customers that become friends, creating bonds in the tennis community that are centered on the courts and outside in establishments like Golden State Tennis. 

“The common interest really takes things to a new level of friendship,” he said. 

The shop is in a good location for those in the City who play, being only a short bus ride from the newly renovated courts in Golden Gate Park, as well as a quick hop from the various courts in the Richmond District, like Dupont Tennis Courts and Mountain Lake Park. The store’s proximity to Park Presidio Boulevard also makes it a convenient stop for those coming from Marin. 

Lum said his favorite part of the job is seeing people come back to tennis. 

“People learn to play as kids, go to college, have lives and want to return to play on their own terms, which is really awesome. I love seeing that,” he said. 

Golden State Tennis is located at 5129 Geary Blvd., between 15th and 16th avenues. Hours are noon-6 p.m. every day except Mondays. Learn more at goldenstate.tennis.