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Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Welcome to New Sponsor Roddick Lavalle Academy; USTA Celebrates Tennis Moms

I'm excited to announce a new advertiser on the site, the Roddick-Lavalle Tennis Academy in San Antonio, Texas. I first became familiar with the academy when it was owned and operated by John Roddick, but his decision to coach and travel with younger brother Andy necessitated a search for a partner, and Myron Grunberg, a former touring coach with Tennis Canada, filled that role. After a couple of years, Grunberg was joined by Leonardo Lavalle, a former ATP Top 50 player, and the pair now run the academy as co-directors, while John Roddick is now in his first year as head men's coach at Oklahoma. The Roddick Lavalle Academy offers full time boarding as well as after school and summer programs, and several players who will be competing in this week's NCAA regionals trained there, including Henrique Cunha of Duke, Jose Hernandez of North Carolina and Alexei Grigorov of Texas A & M. Johanna Konta and Vladimir Ignatik are current professionals who train at Roddick Lavalle and Julia Gajic, a recent semifinalist at the International Spring Championships in Carson, is one of their top junior players.

To celebrate Tennis Month, the RLA is hosting a block party on Saturday, May 22nd from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 12615 Judson Road in San Antonio. Steve Pratt of Brener Zwikel & Associates, who also handles media for the Easter Bowl, the ISC and several USTA Pro Circuit events, contacted me about getting the word out about the event, which includes a free clinic, tennis games, prizes and lunch. Juniors are encouraged to bring their racquets and compete in a super tie-break tournament and other games. The academy staff will be on hand to answer questions and conduct tours of the facility. RLA is also offering a Train in Spain program this summer. For more information about the academy and its programs, see roddicklavalle.com. I appreciate their support of ZooTennis.

The USTA is celebrating Tennis Month with a very ambitious series on tennis mothers. Already they have published features on Anne Marie Boserup, Paula Liverpool, Christine Keys and Margarita McHale, all mothers of junior standouts. Erin Bruehl, who is writing the in-depth features, also did this profile on USTA National Coach Kathy Rinaldi recently. Take a few moments to read what these moms have to say about their love of the sport and how it has become an integral part of their children's lives.

2 comments:

Austin said...

I just want to say how proud I am of John Isner. I'm not a UGA fan at all, but that guy has more guts than almost anybody out there. He is about to make a great comeback in his match today. So many times over the past 2yrs he has been down, but stayed mentally strong and found a way to come back. It's not just his serve that gets him out of trouble, it's the way he goes about his matches.

He doesn't have the talent that a lot of the other '03, '04 & '05 guys have, but what seperates him from them is his ability to fight and find a way to win. That's why he is now in the Top20 and continuing to move up.

Other juniors and pros, take note, you could learn something.

Tennis Guru said...

"that guy has more guts than almost anybody out there.....stayed mentally strong and found a way to come back.....his ability to fight and find a way to win. That's why he is now in the Top 20 and continuing to move up. Other juniors and pros, take note, you could learn something."

Thank you Austin---you are absolutely right on!!! Keep fighting, keep training, and beleive.

If all American players had these attributes, then Americans would be dominating the game again.