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The Oak Leaf
Promoting Tennis in New Orleans for 86 years
Recipient of the 2013 LTA Media Excellence Award
GOOD NEWS FOR TENNIS FANS
February 24, 2014
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City Park Tennis Club Board Meeting
 | | Club President |
Tuesday February 25, 2014 7pm
City Park Pepsi Tennis Center
Included on the agenda:
*CPTC Committee Reports
*Nominating Committee for Annual Meeting
*March 12, 2014 Annual Meeting
*Upcoming Tournaments and Events ( Wimbledon Strawberries & Cream)
 | Errol Laborde
City Park Tennis Chairperson |
The City Park tennis facility has set up a text alert system to notify players about such information as closures due to weather, extra court availability, special tournaments and events. The system is brand new but for it to work it needs people to sign up. All that they need is your cell number. They do not need your name or any other information- and the numbers will not be shared with anyone. Would you mind calling the tennis center today 483-9383 and tell them that you would like to be included in the text alert system and give them your cell number. That's it. You will be part of tennis entering the 21st century.
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Louisiana Tennis Hall of Fame
At the present time there are 29 individual members, one family, and two tennis centers in the Louisiana Tennis Hall of Fame. Linda Tuero was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1983.
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LT. Metairie, Louisiana Q. How old were you when you started playing tennis? Who were the persons who inspired you to love the game of tennis? A. I started playing tennis at 10. My parents made it clear that they wanted me to choose a sport and then focus on that sport. Athletes were in my family. My grandfather Oscar Tuero was a professional baseball player for the St. Louis Cardinals and other teams. He was also inducted into the Cuban Hall of Fame in 2004. My father was an All Star baseball player in Texas as well as a fine tennis player. My uncle Jack Tuero was a top US tennis player. Tennis seemed to be the natural choice. My father was a Captain for Delta Airlines and arranged his flight schedule to practice with me as much as possible. Without him doing this, I'm convinced my career wouldn't have gone too far. We would count strokes to see how many balls we could hit in a row and who would miss first. I was 10 and not happy when I missed first, which was of course, all the time. My competitive spirit was already there.
Q. What were the first tennis matches you participated in? How old were you?
A. I entered my first tournament six months after I started playing. This was the New Orleans Recreational Department (NORD) New Orleans City Championships. I won and at that point the idea of "working hard at one sport" made sense. It was then that I decided that I wanted to be the top player in the country.
By July 1964, 3 � years later, I won the USLTA National Girls 14 and Under Singles Championships. By the time I graduated from St. Martin's School I had won six national tennis titles.
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Source: Louisiana Tennis Association website |
Louisiana is not known as the mecca of the tennis world by any means, but it has produced one of the finest coaches the tennis world has ever seen. David Ayme, known as Coach "Red" around the IMG Academies in Bradenton, FL, has coached some of the games best players ranging from Boris Becker to Tommy Haas. Although Coach Ayme is now world renowned for his coaching expertise of upper echelon players, Nick Bollettieri's right hand man for the past 23 years wants his legacy written in a different light.The tennis career of "Red" started out much differently than most. He was not a top 50 ATP Tour player like Brad Gilbert who made the transition from player to coach with ease. Coach Red started out like any other high school athlete torn between the love for two sports- tennis and baseball. He had no aspirations of turning pro or making millions in either sport, but similar to coaching, it was the pure drive for improvement that pushed him to play. When he was entering his senior year in high school, he chose tennis as the sport he would focus on and wanted to improve as much as he could to, "walk on to a college team." Being a Louisiana native, he had dreams of walking on to Louisiana State University and continuing his tennis career. LSU did not pan out for Coach Red but he walked on to Nicholls State University located in Thibodaux, Louisiana where he played singles and doubles for four years. When I asked him about his playing days, he said, "my goal of improving as a player was to help make me a great coach." Throughout college, he would spend his summers coaching at Steve Carter's Tennis Camp. Talking about his days at the summer camp, he said, "I just loved helping people become the best tennis players they can be." That desire for coaching and helping others brought him to the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy 23 years ago.
"I was only supposed to come for one year, and now its been 23." It has been a good 23 years for Coach Red to say the least. After proving himself as a knowledgeable coach, Nick picked him to travel with some players competing in lower level professional tournaments. Coach Red spoke about his travels, "I loved it. I mean I was a young guy so traveling was fun. Seeing new places while helping these young players succeed was great for me." It was so great that Nick trusted him to travel with top players like Boris Becker and Marcelo Rios. The 6 month gig with Becker was interesting for Coach Red. "Every player is unique, and you have to learn how to deal with their uniqueness." Whether it was staying at the perfect hotel away from the competition, or eating at the right restaurants, Coach Red had plenty to tell about his adventures on the road. These relatively short traveling trips eventually led to a more stable job coaching Tommy Haas.
Coach Red coached Tommy Haas for eight solid years. Traveling to Grand Slams and Masters Series Events on a regular basis, he became a familiar face in the tennis world. Being interviewed during matches and highlighted in magazines, Coach Red had finally made it. For Coach Red though, "it has never been about the fame or recognition." That's what makes him such a class act. He explained to me that coaching for him is all about developing the complete player. That means mentally, physically, and a well-rounded person off the court.
Well-rounded is an adjective that perfectly describes Coach Red. As we were watching some young players at the IMG Academies, I asked him if he misses being in the limelight watching the likes of Becker, Rios, and Haas. With no hesitation, he said, "it doesn't matter if you are coaching young kids to put 3 balls back in row, or if you're coaching a top professional to win 3 points in a row to win a championship. Helping players reach their full potential is what it's all about."
An avid cyclist, Red suffered a near-fatal incident this year when he was struck by a vehicle. Professionally, it means that he can't travel with the pros who he coaches. Personally, though, it gave him a new outlook.
"You just have to truly live every day of your life," he said.
Coach David "Red" Ayme truly incorporates all the key characteristics that make up a great coach. He values both the player and the person and wants to build both. When I asked Red about the greats he coached, of course a couple top ten tour players came up, but more names were mentioned of people who succeeded as attorneys, doctors, etc. His passion for the game has led players from around the world into the top tier of tennis and life. "When I get a student coming back to me years later telling me how successful he has become in life, that is just as satisfying as sitting in any players box out there." This mind set is the reason The IMG Academies are lucky to have a guy like Coach Red!
Source:Tennis NOW 6/24/2010
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Looking for a place to play tennis in the greater New Orleans Area? Or, looking for a teaching pro for lessons? Then go to the New Orleans Metropolitan Tennis Association website below > Tennis Club Director at the top of the website. A very helpful source of information.
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Beginner Adult Tennis Clinic
Aurora Tennis & Swim Club
Have you ever wanted to play tennis? Now is your chance. It's fun, great exercise and you'll meet a lot of new friends! Racquets provided if you don't have one. Adults only. Cost $120 per person which includes 6 90-minute clinics and 2-month free membership. ($200 value) Clinics held on Wednesday and Friday. Minimum 5 players per Clinic
Starting March 5th 10 AM
5244 General Meyer, New Orleans, La 70131
Call Lisa Fox at 504-957-3079 for more details!
Jody Schmitt, Tennis Pro
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College Results
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.
- The 73rd-ranked Tulane men's tennis team couldn't have gotten any closer to a win without winning in Saturday's 4-3 loss to Conference USA rival UAB at the Lakewood Tennis Center.
The Green Wave (5-2, 0-1 C-USA) and the Blazers (3-3, 1-0 C-USA) went down to the final point in the third set of the sixth singles match to decide the winner.
On court two, Tulane's Sebastian Rey and UAB's Chris Helliar, the nation's 86th ranked player, battled into a tiebreaker in the third set with the team score knotted at 3-3 before Helliar secured the victory, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4-0), win on court two.
"It hurts to lose a match like this because we did so much, so well, to turn things around from deficits all over the place and then have match point on our racket to win the whole thing," Tulane head coach Mark Booras said. "But this is what competition is all about. I am so proud of our guys for investing everything they had today to get us in a position to win."
Feb. 16, 2014
New Orleans - Tulane's 66th-ranked women's tennis team dropped a 6-1 decision to No. 59 South Florida this afternoon to conclude a five-match home stand at the City Park Pepsi Center.
With the loss, Tulane falls to 3-5 overall, while South Florida improved to 4-3 on the year.
"Today was a good day for many reasons," Tulane head coach Terri Sisk said. "We fought tooth and nail with a solid USF team. We battled for every point and focused on the process and came up a little short. We aren't concerned with that. We are focused on the future of our program by learning a lot of valuable lessons early on with somewhat of a young team.
"It is easy to look at the record or to feel a tad disappointed because you didn't get the end result you wanted but having four new girls in the line-up facing challenges that they haven't faced before is tough. However, these girls are playing tough tennis and I'm proud of them. We are learning every day and we are growing. That's all any coach asks for. I believe in this team and they will continue to grow."
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The 73rd-ranked Tulane men's tennis team bounced back from Saturday's heartbreaking loss to UAB with a solid, 6-1, victory over No. 69 Samford on Sunday afternoon at the Samford Tennis Center.
"This weekend was a great character builder for our guys," Tulane head coach Mark Booras said. "To bounce back like they did from a tough loss yesterday and then beat a ranked team on the road today shows a lot of heart and maturity."
"We had a complete team effort from start to finish." Booras added. "I was happy to see how they learned from yesterday and showed a lot of poise and composure during the big moments today."
Gold Nuggets win, Gold Rush lose at Belhaven 
JACKSON, Miss. -- Simone-Alyse Ewell and Sha'Nel Bruins won 6-0, 6-0 in singles for the second day in row to lead NAIA No. 3 Xavier University in a 5-0 women's tennis victory against Belhaven on Saturday, February 15, 2014.
Xavier's men lost 5-4 to Belhaven in a matchup of ranked teams.
"The Nuggets were on cruise control," XU coach Alan Green said. "It was a tough, grueling loss for our men. We fell behind in and managed to tie it, but we just couldn't pull it out at the end. We beat Belhaven by the same way so last year, so we know how they felt."
February 16, 2014
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Xavier University of Louisiana lost to Georgia Gwinnett in matchups of ranked NAIA men's and women's tennis teams Sunday. The Gold Nuggets lost 5-2, and the Gold Rush lost 6-1.
Georgia Gwinnett, a second-year NAIA member, is 5-0 and ranked fifth among men's teams, and its women are 6-0 and ranked 20th. New rankings will be announced Tuesday afternoon.
The Gold Nuggets (3-3) are ranked third, and the Gold Rush (2-4) are sixth.
(Mobile, Ala.) The Loyola University New Orleans women's tennis team picked up the sole Wolf Pack victory of the day versus Spring Hill College as the men's and women's squads took on the Badgers and the University of Mobile.
The Wolf Pack women (2-4, 1-2 SSAC) defeated the Badgers (0-1, 0-1 SSAC), 8-1 in their first match of the day, but later fell to the Rams (1-0, 1-0 SSAC) 0-9.
The Loyola men's squad (1-5, 0-3 SSAC) narrowly missed a victory, falling to the Badgers 5-4. Freshman Federico Mercado and sophomore David Mayhall picked up a doubles victory and both won their respective singles matches. Junior Emmanuel Benjamin also earned a singles win for the Pack. The men's team was swept by the Rams (1-0, 1-0 SSAC).
 NEW ORLEANS, La. - The New Orleans Privateers women's tennis team suffered a 6-1 setback versus Louisiana Tech on Friday afternoon at the Tennis Center. The Privateers (2-1) lost the doubles point, being swept in all doubles matches by the score of 8-2. Louisiana Tech (3-2) continued its strong play in singles with the only New Orleans win coming at the No. 3 spot in the lineup with Anna Segarra Rius defeating Marta Sramkova 6-4, 6-1. Marta Sans fought hard in her match at No. 4, taking Melanie Urvoy to the tiebreaker in the first set before succumbing 6-2 in the second. Hafsa Laraibi also showed poise at No. 6 by fighting back after a 6-2 loss in her first set to get to the tiebreaker in the second before losing 7-5.
NEW ORLEANS, La. - The New Orleans Privateers women's tennis team (2-2) had their rally fall just shy in a 4-3 loss to the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (3-1) on Monday afternoon at the University Tennis Center.
"Once again, the doubles point came back and haunted us," said Head Coach
Burzis Kanga. "We never capitalized on any of the doubles points. We're struggling with doubles. The combinations we're trying are falling just a little short against the better teams."
"I thought we played a good match. It's a shame because we came so close to beating a team we hadn't beaten before. It's somewhat disheartening. Soledad fought a great battle, but unfortunately she came up short," said Kanga.
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