Around 60 young tennis players got to take some shots with Hall of Fame tennis pros Tracy Austin and Gigi Fernández Sunday at the the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s Be Legendary program.
Photo: International Tennis Hall of Fame
Young tennis players from across the city got to learn from professional tennis players at the Cary Leeds Center for Tennis and Learning in Crotona Park on Sunday.
The International Tennis Hall of Fame’s Be Legendary program brought Hall of Famers Tracy Austin and Gigi Fernández to the Bronx to help aspiring young players work on their skills and offer some wisdom for navigating the tennis, on and off the court.
Out of about 60 students, more than a dozen at Sunday’s workshop were from the Bronx, including 13-year-old Hudson Harris who lives near the tennis center and has been playing tennis for around four years.
Harris told the Bronx Times that he would like to build a career out of tennis.
Tennis Hall of Famer Gigi Fernández high fives a young tennis player at the Cary Leeds Center for Tennis and Learning on Sunday. Photo: International Tennis Hall of Fame
“ The dream is obviously to go pro, become top 10 in the world and do that stuff, but realistically I would probably want to play college tennis,” Harris said.
Harris is part of the Cary Leeds Center’s Student Athlete Program, which gives support to young athletes with tennis, but also with academics and life skills in hopes of setting them up for future success in whatever path they choose.
Harris said that his Coach Jay Devashetty, the vice president of tennis pathways at the Cary Leeds Center, has made a big impact on him.
“ He’s helped me a lot throughout the years and he encourages me the most probably out of all the coaches,” Harris said. “He expects a lot, but wants you to do your best in these tournaments and tennis in general on and off the court.”
Harris and the other students spent the afternoon rotating through a series of drills, directed by Austin, Fernández and other coaches. They worked on skills like returning serves and playing against each other on the court.
Austin and Fernández would take pauses to give feedback to groups and individuals, telling them to think about balancing power with accuracy or how to use their whole body in a swing, rather than just their arms.
Professional Tracy Austin guides a young tennis player through a swing on Sunday. The tennis legend spent a couple hours in the Bronx hosting a workshop and helping young players with their skills. Photo: International Tennis Hall of Fame
The students sat for a Q&A with the Hall of Famers, who shared about their experiences growing up. Austin, who was ranked number one in the world in Women’s singles said that her experience being the youngest of five children encouraged her competitive spirit.
“I think sometimes we don’t think about the mental part of the sport and how important that is: how much drive you have, how much desire and how much you want to push yourself,” Austin told the young players.
Fernández talked to the students about how growing up, there were no professional women’s tennis players who were from Puerto Rico like her, and how she had to forge her own path. She told the Bronx Times that if someone doesn’t have a role model to follow, they should pave the way by becoming the first person to accomplish their goals.
“ If it’s some sport that you wanna do and there’s no role models, you can still blaze your own trail,” Fernández said. “If you have a passion in life, something you wanna do, and you’re the first one to do it, it’s still possible.”
Giving young players those role models and opportunities is one of the important goals of the Cary Leeds Center, General Manager Steve O’Keefe told the Bronx Times. He said that being a welcoming and safe space for tennis players, especially from the Bronx is important. He said the Cary Leeds Center does outreach to Bronx Schools and offers free programming for local students.
“ We make sure people know that the tennis center’s here and it’s for them, and we make sure they know that’s available all year round,” O’Keefe said.
In addition to the training session the young players got to go to The Garden Cup at Madison Square Garden on Monday to see a matchup between current World No. 1 and two-time U.S. Open champion Aryna Sabalenka and four-time major champion Naomi Osaka.
Reach Sadie Brown at sbrown@schnepsmedia.com or (214) 994-6723. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!