Learning the Game at the Grassroots Level
My tennis career began at an early age with the best coach and teacher a boy can have … my father. I was born in 1966 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, at a time when my father was the tennis pro at the beautiful Rockefeller Resort Dorado Beach, alongside the legendary Nick Bollettieri. My father and Nick worked together for 10 years before Nick developed his own tennis academy in Florida. Not many people know that it was in Puerto Rico where Nick learned to teach and coach tennis, and that he was influenced by Juan Rios Sr.’s techniques and philosophies.
At the age of 13, I flew to sunny Sarasota, Fla. with my father to meet Nick at the Colony Beach Resort. I remember that day as it were yesterday. On Court One was Jimmy Arias, Kathleen Horvath and a shirtless Nick. After a brief greeting, he told the pro shop staffer to give me the latest FILA outfit and to go to Court One to hit with Jimmy and Kathleen. I was so excited and nervous at the same time. What a moment for my father … it was priceless! My father left the next morning back to Puerto Rico, while I lived at Nick’s Academy for the next four years. It was a dream come true!
Four years later at the age of 17 on a hot fall day, one of Nick’s pros came to my court to tell me that Nick wanted me to play with a new kid that just arrived at the Academy. This “new kid” was only 14-years-old. I was furious and said that I was not playing with this “little kid.” Nick called me into his office and started pleading with me that it was very important for me to play with this new kid which, a kid who was supposed to be a great talent. I accepted and went out to play. We played one set, a set that I won 6-3, but the kid made me play my best to beat him. This kid happened to be named Andre Agassi.
A couple of months later, Yannick Noah came to me on a Sunday afternoon as I was doing some gardening work for being caught with a Coca-Cola in my room and asked if I wanted to play. I explained that I was grounded and I had to finish my gardening for Nick. With a heavy accent he said: “I will call Nick.” I had not played in a week and had no rackets strung. I borrowed a Head racket and a Prince from my roommates and went to practice with the French Open Champion. We played a first set and he won 6-3. We played a second set and I won 6-3. He picked up his bag and left without saying a word. I was so excited. I just took a set off the French Open Champ. Wow! What a thrill! That evening, Yanick came up to congratulate me on how good my technique was and asked who my teacher was.
My father taught me since the age of five the beautiful strokes and techniques it takes to succeed in the game of tennis. I feel proud and honored to have been taught by the best! In recognition of all his years of dedication to the tennis industry, my mother recently published a book in Puerto Rico with amazing stories about the life of my father, this great legend, teacher and coach. My father was the beginning of my grassroots in the sport of a lifetime.
