Coaching Spotlight: Evan Vrsaljko, Advantage Tennis Clubs

For the last year, Advantage Tennis Clubs has been undergoing a rebranding in order to adapt to the ever-changing tennis landscape in New York. Part of those changes include new logos, updated website and active social media platforms, as well as a focus to grow its high-performance junior tennis program.

A key cog in that focus is Evan Vrsaljko who was recently named the Assistant Director of the Junior Tennis Programs, bringing his experience as both a high-level player and a coach for more than a decade to the next crop of players coming through the Advantage programs.

“As we focus on growing our high-performance junior tennis program, Evan’s expertise and proven track record as a coach are invaluable,” said Josie Underwood, Sales and Communications Director for Advantage Tennis Clubs. “His leadership offers our players exposure to high-level game play and training opportunities, enhancing their development and success.”

Vrsaljko joined the Advantage team over a year ago and has overseen its growth in that time.

“When I first came here, a lot of the kids I was teaching were coming specifically to train with me, which happens with coaches, but the team here has done a great job of creating a pathway so now they are Advantage players, and not my players,” said Vrsaljko. “They can tell that all the coaches are here to help them. If you go up and down the courts at any of the Advantage clubs, there really is a personalized approach to teaching that I think the kids and parents appreciate.”

Vrsaljko’s tennis journey didn’t start the same way as a lot of other players. His father immigrated to New York from Europe, and wanted his son to be a soccer player. Soccer was his love and the first sport that Evan played when he was a kid, but as he looks back jokingly, he says:

“I wasn’t any good at soccer.”

A school field trip one day would alter his path and open his eyes as his class got to play tennis. It was the first time he had held a racquet, and he was immediately hooked.

“I convinced my dad to let me play tennis, and at first I was playing once a week, then it grew to twice a week, then three times a week,” he recalls. “I became a tennis addict, and tennis has been a part of my life ever since.”

As he became a top junior, the Jackson Heights native was able to use his tennis prowess to earn a scholarship to St. Francis College in Brooklyn and play tennis collegiately. He competed on the Terriers team for four years before transitioning into the coaching industry.

Coaching was not something he had really gave much thought to during his playing days, but while he was training at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, he began giving a little bit of coaching to the younger players training there.

“The directors saw me coaching there and liked what I was doing and hired me,” Vrsaljko recalls. “It was a natural transition, something that happened randomly, but I immediately loved it and it ensured that tennis would continue to be a part of my life.”

Vrsaljko’s passion for tennis and helping the next generation of players improve is infectious, and through his decade-plus experience of coaching, he has overseen the development of players who began playing red ball and who are now going on to compete collegiately, the type of growth he finds incredible rewarding.

“I work with players of all levels, and I love seeing the growth and development from them,” he said. “I have kids who I coached when they were eight who are graduating college now, and it’s truly amazing to see. I love being able to help them in all aspects of life. It’s more than just being on court with them teaching technical stuff. I am on the phone with parents a lot going through their son or daughter’s development, setting them up with the right tournaments, helping them with college recruitment and more. It’s about being a mentor, and I absolutely love that aspect of it.”

Advantage Tennis Clubs operates three separate clubs in New York City, Manhattan Plaza Racquet Club, New York Tennis Club and Roosevelt Island Racquet Club, as well as its satellite locations, which includes eight red ball locations and two other junior programs. In addition, Advantage has made a big push into promoting tennis in local schools throughout New York City as it aims to continue to grow tennis in New York, something it has been an integral part of for more than 50 years.

Prior to joining Advantage, Vrsaljko worked at Cunningham Tennis where he helped build their high-performance program, something he is extremely proud of and an experience he has now brought to Advantage Tennis Clubs.

“I came to Roosevelt Island because of the potential I saw, and paired with the fact I wanted to expand my horizons,” he said. “The location is something that excited me, and the opportunity to meet new people, and work with emerging new talents was something I could not pass up.”

Advantage has made it his mission to provide a personal experience to every individual who walks through the doors of any of its locations. Vrsaljko is a major reason for that, and his teaching and guidance to the juniors has proven already to be a positive to both the players and coaches in the Advantage Tennis Clubs programs.

“Evan is a tremendous asset to Advantage Tennis Clubs, bringing extensive experience and a deep passion for the game. His coaching philosophy emphasizes technical precision, strategic thinking, and mental toughness, which are essential for developing high-performance players,” Underwood added. “Evan’s personalized training programs help athletes reach their full potential, and his continuous innovation keeps Advantage teaching methods cutting-edge.”