Blake, Nakashima Headline December Fundraiser for Tom Svajda; D-I College Signings, New Assistants; UTR Partners with Colleges to Increase Pro Tennis Tours on Campus, Former Volunteers Join PTT Player Relations Team
Now that the brief off-season for pro tennis is approaching, exhibitions often take center stage. James Blake and Brandon Nakashima, two San Diego area residents, are joining Trevor and Zachary Svajda in a December 7th exhibition to benefit the Svajdas' father Tom, who is battling cancer.
Tom, who has been a tennis coach in Pacific Beach for decades, has been unable to work since his diagnosis this summer. Tickets for the fundraiser, to be held at the Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club beginning at 10:30 a.m are $150. For more details, and to purchase tickets, see this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tom-svajda-tennis-exhibition-fundraiser-tickets-1091335577089
The GoFundMe established for Tom can be found here.
With the holiday coming up, it's unlikely there will be many more Division I signing announcements released; here are the few that I've found since my list for women on November 20 and my list for men on November 21.
Men:
Memphis signs Marcos Castro Fabra of Spain and Jarrod Joyce of Australia:
Texas signs Oliver Ojakaar of Estonia and Mariano Dedura-Palomero of Germany:
Women:
New Mexico signs Coumba Ben of Mali:
Oklahoma State signs Alian Zack of Israel:
Old Dominion signs Marina Markina of Latvia:
Rice signs Daniela Chica:
Tennessee signs Francesca Mattioli of Argentina:
I also came across a few new coaching hires in Division I.
The Tennessee men's program has hired Matt Lucas as associate head coach: https://utsports.com/news/2024/11/26/mens-tennis-tennessee-mens-tennis-adds-matt-lucas-as-associate-head-coach.aspx
The Vanderbilt men's program has added Filip Kraljevic as an assistant coach: https://vucommodores.com/kraljevic-joins-commodores-as-assistant/
The West Virginia women have hired Logan Blair as an assistant coach: https://wvusports.com/news/2024/11/12/blair-named-assistant-coach-for-tennis.aspx
UTR has made several announcements this month regarding its Pro Tennis Tour: a $500,000 commitment to a Tour Card Program, their debut in the NIL space, the increase in campus events with 14 D-I universities signing on to help triple the number of PTT events on campuses. The latest release announces additions to its PTT Player Relations team, with four current or former Tennessee Volunteers named to the team: alums Pat Harper and Tenika McGiffin of Australia, Giles Hussey of Great Britain and senior Shunsuke Mitsui of Japan. Former Tennessee associate head coach James McKie, who Lucas was just hired to replace, is now Director of Player Relations at UTR.
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