Dear Friend‎s,

I had a really great educational trip down at USTA National Headquarters in Boca. I spent the week mainly with Jose Higueras and Andy Brandi, two legendary coaches.

Andy works with the best 12 and 13 year olds in the country and I got to observe their training for the week. A few top 10 players were visiting and I enjoyed getting to know them and see their strengths and weaknesses. I was most impressed with 12 year old Aidan Mayo–the top 12 year old in the US–who was fast and explosive and had great technique.

Jose focuses on the transitional pros and there were about 8 top American boys 17 -20 who were all top 300 ATP. I was most impressed with 17 year old Frances Tiafoe, who is on track to be our next star–already 190 ATP.

There was also a USTA national camp with top 11 year olds and I got to analyze some of the top boys and girls in that age division in the US.
In addition, there were many top WTA pros and international juniors training onsite either for preseason or–for the juniors–getting ready for Orange Bowl.

I also enjoyed watching our best American WTA players train and I also watched Cibulkova practice daily as well.

It was an incredible week of tennis and I was on court daily 8am-5pm without a break!

Jose has taken me under his wing and provides strong mentoring. When I have de‎velopmental questions I can call or email him for clarification, which is a fantastic resource to have.

Andy Brandi is also an expert in junior development and it’s great to have him as a resource at USTA as well.

I saw many of the top juniors in the US–but to be honest–we are building the same world-class skills in our academy. The only difference is many of these kids are homeschooling and completely dedicated to tennis, while many of our students are juggling incredibly busy schedules and have other outstanding talents that they are nurturing outside of tennis.
I feel comfortable saying that our students are getting world-class and cutting edge training–as good as you can find anywhere.

For our students who do decide to commit themselves completely to tennis, they will be well prepared for the national and international stage.‎

Can’t wait to get back onto the courts!

Best

Chris