DeHart PTR”s First Two-Time POY
Ken DeHart pulled off the improbable double-dip Feb. 17 in South Carolina, became the PTR’s first two-time Professional of the Year in the award’s 33-year history – 20 years after winning his first POY in ‘89.
“It’s pretty prestigious,” DeHart said of the honor, “and winning it twice, it’s pretty nice.”
The PTR is the largest global organization of tennis teachers and coaches with over 13,300 members in 122 countries. The San Jose Swim and RC’s Director of Tennis was honored with a plaque at the PTR’s Annual Symposium — an event DeHart helped found 25 years ago. DeHart is a PTR National Tester and Clinician, National Trainer for Recreational Coaches, as well as a member of the Cardio Tennis National Speakers Team and Wilson Premier Advisory Staff. He is also the co-author of PTR’s International Book of Drills.
The ‘09 PTR Annual Symposium included 60-plus on court and classroom presentations, a tennis trade show and $25,000 Championships Feb. 14-20 at Van der Meer Shipyard RC on Hilton Head Island, S.C.
Sylvano Student a Nobody No More
Nikhil Jayashankar was nine years old when he first met Sylvano Simone.
“He was a nobody [on the tennis courts],” Simone said. “Like a beginner.”
Jayashankar is the first to agree.
“I was really uncoordinated,” he admitted. “I could run fast on track, but I just couldn’t balance on the court. There was a point where I wasn’t getting anywhere. I was kind of questioning myself. Then all of a sudden in a couple tournaments it clicked.”
The Crow Canyon Junior Championships in ‘07 was the first. Jayashankar reached the Round of 16 with a pair of straight set victories before bowing out in a three-set seesaw against eventual finalist Calvin Mark. From there, Jayashankar went on to win two of his next three tourneys, including a 5-0 run through the Seascape New Year Junior Open and a 4-0 sweep of the Seascape President’s Day Junior Open Challenger.
He cashed in back-to-back-to-back wins in the final two months of ‘08 (Santa Cruz Academy Junior Open, Santa Cruz Tennis Academy Junior Open) and first two of ‘09. Jayashankar’s most recent first came at the SSRC Jr. Excellence in Fresno where he beat No. 2 seed Jayabharath Billa 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(3) — his only three-setter casino of the tournament — to advance to a final he would sweep 6-4, 7-5 over fourth-seeded Matthew Alves. Six years since joining the Sylvano Tennis Academy, Jayashankar is now anything but a nobody.
“He’s an up-and-coming guy,” Simone said of Jayashankar, a sophomore at Saratoga H.S.
Sunnyvale TC: Hassoun Resigns
Jean Hassoun resigned as the Sunnyvale TC president in January, ending six years of service at the helm. Citing the club’s “maturity” as a reason for his departure, Hassoun will continue to manage Sunnyvale’s stable of teams, plus maintain his commitments as a referee. Named USTA NorCal ‘08 Referee of the Year, Hassoun has already committed to close to 30 tournaments in ‘09.
“I’ll remain very much involved with the tennis center,” Hassoun said.
Hassoun began volunteering at Sunnyvale in ‘00 and helped to nearly triple the membership from 385 in ‘00 to over 1,000 in ‘09.
Slugs Upbeat Despite Indoor Showing
UC-Santa Cruz men’s tennis head coach Bob Hansen has a feeling, a good feeling.
Ten dual matches into ‘09, with his team hovering just above .500, Hansen is more than pleased despite watching his Banana Slugs fail to reach the Final Four of the ITA National Indoor Championships for the first time in program history.
“Honestly, it’s gone as well as I’d like.”
Despite a pair of match points on two different courts for UC-Santa Cruz, No. 8 Kenyon upset the fourth-ranked Slugs 5-4 in the quarters of the Indoor. The teams split the singles side behind a three-set win for reigning D3 singles champion Michael Greenberg, but Kenyon eked out a pair of doubles wins, including a 9-8 (9-7) barnburner on court No. 1, to knock the Slugs out early.
“They’re an emerging team,” Hansen said of the upstart Lords.
UC-Santa Cruz, followed up the Indoors with back-to-back wins over Redlands and UC-Davis to push their record to a misleading 6-4 through 10 dual matches.
“We always schedule crazy stuff,” Hansen said of a schedule that included two D1, one D2 and one NAIA opponent in their first 10 matches.
The craziness continues with five matches in six days during a SoCal swing in mid-April, then a calm (Ojai D3 Championships) before the storm (Claremont Mudd-Scripps on May 2).
“That’s the biggest match of the season, far and away. We beat them and that solidifies all of our training. We’re trying to build for that,” Hansen said. “We’re pulling out all of the stops.”
And with good reason. The match will have major seeding implications for the NCAA tournament, plus the mental edge if — or more likely when — the pair meets again in the tourney. Claremont edged Kenyon in the third-place match of the ITA National Indoors 5-4. One thing going in the Slugs’ favor come mid-May — UC-Santa Cruz will host their NCAA regional. To date, the Slugs have never lost a regional as the host club.
