Many good cooks dream of opening a restaurant, and many former professional tennis players seem to have a similar urge when it comes tennis academies. I've been collecting items regarding some of these academies' openings and reconfigurations the past few months, but there is no discussion of the genre possible without first seeing what's going on at IMG/Nick Bollettieri's in Bradenton.
Since January's upheaval (for the Bradenton Herald's article on the firings, click here), Bollettieri has been unusually circumspect about what led to the dismissal of his longtime associates, but he has stated often that he is rededicating himself to on-court coaching and limiting his travel and speaking engagements. Chip Brooks was named director of the tennis academy in January, and last month Sam Zussman was named managing director of the IMG Academies. In Charlie Bricker's tennisnews.com blog last week, Bollettieri is quoted as saying that, rumors to the contrary, the academy is not for sale.
In January, the Bradenton Herald also published this story on former Australian Open champion Johan Kriek's plan to move his academy to a new all-sports complex being developed, also, like Bollettieri's, in Manatee County. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune explored the viability of the financing coming together during these gloomy economic times in this article last month.
Justine Henin opened her 6th Sense Academy in Orlando last fall, with her coach Carlos Rodriguez, and the Miami Herald recently published this story about ATP tour player Guillermo Canas's plans to start an academy at the Crandon Park facility on Key Biscayne.
Although Southern California doesn't seem to attract the same concentration of academies that South Florida does, Jan-Michael Gambill has moved his academy from Hawaii to Orange County, California. Rob Gurden is the director. See this article from the USTA Southern California section for more details.
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