Charleston, S.C., has been named the winner of the USTA’s “Best Tennis Town.”

Rome was recognized as a finalist and honorable mention in the contest.

The announcement was made Monday afternoon during a special ceremony in Arthur Ashe Stadium during the US Open in Flushing, N.Y. (For Open coverage, see page 4B).

Representatives from the top three vote-getting communities — Charleston, Atlanta and Richmond, Va. — attended the ceremony.

Atlanta, the first runner-up to Charleston, brings home $50,000 from the USTA for their local tennis programs, and second runner-up Richmond receives $25,000.

As an honorable mention city, Rome will receive $2,000 in tennis equipment to be used for increasing its tennis programming community wide.

Charleston beat out a total of 81 cities in the USTA’s nationwide search to identify the 2010 “Best Tennis Town.” The national competition began in April, when communities from across the country submitted their entries.

The USTA profiled the Top 10 contenders on www.besttennistown.com.