Tennis Serving Vets: giving service men and women opportunity through tennis

 At this time, it almost feels as though we are in a war zone, preparing for battle; there are no supermarkets that I’ve visited with a steady supply of eggs and toilet paper anywhere (but if you know of any, HMU; the grocery store employee said she might resort to buying a chicken to lay some eggs – ha, good one); fights are breaking out, and it’s like we are walking on eggshells – it’s truly a trying time, and I think it goes without saying that we are all hoping and praying that we’ll get through this well. Should this pandemic escalate, though, thank goodness for the medical professionals and everyone taking on at-risk jobs in order to protect the well being of countless others; and of course, thank gosh for the troops and service men and women who have risked their lives in serving this country. Many of the latter have turned to tennis after their service after never playing before, and although their enjoyment from playing tennis might be tabled for now, the swinging should pick up soon.

My dad, Stu Kobak, was a perfect example of someone who took up tennis later in life and used it as an outlet for releasing stress and the traumatic memories affiliated with the Vietnam War in which he served. As a veteran, I am certain that he would be proud of the work that the non-profit, Tennis Serving Vets, has provided veterans of all different backgrounds in the scope of wartime service. Co-founded by USTA Eastern employee Allison Goldman and Yonkers Tennis Center Tennis Professional and Tournament Director Luis Chirinos two years ago, Tennis Serving Vets aims to provide a platform for United States veterans to learn, experience and love the game of tennis, which can be taught at any age and in any place.

“Tennis is something you can do for your entire life,” Chirinos says. “[Veterans] tend to isolate themselves, so we’re getting into that social aspect.”

Socially speaking, tennis can be extremely social and attracts sociable personalities. Although people across the world are currently practicing social isolation, tennis players included, perhaps telling human interest stories surrounding tennis can mitigate the anxiety many have been feeling about COVID-19.Tennis Serving Vets is the first organization of its kind to open its arms to veterans who reside driving distance from the Yonkers Tennis Center. The program started out as an extension of its sister program in California, run by Steve Kappes. Everyone participating in the on-court demonstrations and practice sessions are volunteers, from West Coast to East Coast.

“There’s nothing here on the East Coast that does things [like what we do] for the veterans,” says Chirinos about the previous lack of resources in tennis for veterans living in the area.

One of Chirinos’ first students in the Tennis Serving Vets program, Isaac Cortes, received unofficial treatment for his PTSD from playing tennis.

“Tennis helped him on his path to recovery,” says Chirinos about his current student, who will have to take a break from playing given what’s going on in the world.

Instead of using the yellow ball that older juniors, leagues and professional players use, the veterans play with tennis balls typically played in 10 and under tennis competitions, according to Chirinos. While TSV has used 10 & under balls before, the teaching pros often use yellow balls, too.

“We are hoping to get a grant so we can purchase more 10 & under balls,” says Chirinos about what the organization needs moving forward in order to provide veterans with equal options for everyone participating in on-court demos. “The issue is we don’t get have enough 10 & under balls for all of our veterans.”

According to Goldman, she thought “if this is good for children, why isn’t it good for people for other types of rehab?” That’s a very good point – balls can be adaptable, much like how the orange dot balls are used for this new, up-and-coming sport called beach tennis. But for the veterans sticking to playing regular tennis and are new to the game, the lighter tennis balls and smaller courts make good sense in getting the new tennis players acclimated. There are also veterans on the tennis court who can play with yellow tennis balls as well.

Lessons and group classes offered by TSV, which are at no cost to the veterans, are structured as such where each court has their own pro and each court is dedicated to a specific stroke; games are conducted toward the end, all of which was based off of Steve Kappes’s guidance.

“We came together and then we said ‘let’s do this for the veteran community,” says Goldman about the initiative which sees an average of 20-30 people attending each event with high retention numbers. “We’re getting the message across to the veteran community in the right way.”

Another veteran, Charles Hernandez, often brings his family to the TSV events.

“Its definitely a familiar affair,” Luis says. “I could see the progress – he’s much more open.”

Speaking of Opens, that’s where many of veterans played two summers ago, at the famous grounds of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, home of the US Open. Not only did vets play tennis there, but they did it on the grandest stage: center stage inside of the main stadium.

“They had time on Ashe and right before the match at noon when the crowd was shuffling in,” says Goldman on how that day went during the USTA event featuring some veterans who play in TSV events. The experience of being on Ashe gave the players a taste of and the adrenaline rush that the Grand Slam players experience during match play.

The resources that TSV provides for the veteran community gives those members something they otherwise might never have gotten: an introduction to the game we love so much. Now these folks have this skill for the rest of their lives, and can share them with family and friends and anyone who wants to learn what they did – and pass it on even more.

“That feeling of contact with the ball is so powerful, especially when you’re coming back from the injury,” says Goldman, who knows what it’s like to have injuries, and drew from that experience to help others use tennis as a vehicle for recovery. “It’s amazing for you; it releases endorphins and makes you feel better, and helps with [stabilization].”

'Safe' practices, given the news

A lot of players on the WTA and ATP tours have to handle the precautionary predicament: the tour, among many, many other sporting events and large gatherings around the world, have been postponed due to COVID-19. While the last post on this blog was meant in jest, this has since officially become defined as a pandemic as regarded by the WHO and is wreaking havoc on the world.

So, how does this affect the tennis community? From a financial standpoint, top WTA and ATP players will be the least-affected given how much money they’ve amassed while competing in high-level tournaments in the past few months and even years; whereas on the other hand, lower-tier tournament players will most definitely be affected negatively as they might have to resort to other work outside of sports, really, to make a living - at this point in time). What about the ball boys and girls, the linesmen, the referees, the umpires and all of the officials and administrators involved in the tennis business? Virtually everyone’s jobs will be placed on hold, barring the subsequent planning for next year’s events. I feel like everyone is in survival mode, and there’s no telling what the future truly holds.

As this is the first time in the history of the ATP and WTA tours have been suspended for a few weeks (with the potential of being suspended even further), the appropriate decision might affect spectatorship, viewership and interest in the sport as a whole, too. A few friends and I were planning on heading to the Miami Open; as it happens, a friend of mine is supposed to have her bachelorette party in Miami that same weekend. Should I stay, or should I go now? Travel seems risky; could state borders, if not counties, soon to be the next step.

In the interim, it’s now officially the “off-season” once more, as many players still pumped from their training in the off-season will have to resort to at-home workouts. At least, that’s what I’m going to be doing. Goodbye, gym membership – hello, stationary bike and treadmill and free weights. All of this will unquestionably carry over into other sports as well; the NBA, for instance, has canceled the remainder of the season; even college tennis conferences have suspended their conference play.

What I’m most scared of, aside from the high likelihood of catching the virus, is the hysteria surrounding this pandemic - how can we go about living our lives without living in complete fear of the unknown? For now, here’s to washing our hands thoroughly and taking as many precautionary measures as we can.

Tennis Tales: Personal Perspective on Last Year's US Open

During the US Open, most 15-year-old kids were gearing up for high school, getting school supplies and sharpening their pencils and minds in advance of their first day. It’s been quite a different experience for Cori “Coco” Gauff, who was playing in a jam-packed Louis Armstrong Stadium at the 2019 US Open recently. Coco calmly beat No. 64 and fellow teenager Anastasia Potapova last Tuesday, and followed that impressive result up by winning once again two nights later on the same court with an even bigger crowd behind her against doubles specialist Timea Babos.

The American tennis-playing prodigy from Florida had a miracle run at Wimbledon last month, advancing through the Championships’ Grand Slam qualifying draw before knocking off five-time ladies’ singles champion Venus Williams in the opening round, and she then won two more main draw matches before succumbing in straights to eventual champion Simona Halep in week two. Despite her young age and the limited amount of WTA tournaments she can play as a result, the USTA awarded her a main draw wildcard into the US Open. She is by far the youngest female tennis player to ever receive such a wildcard without winning the USTA Girls 18s national championship title. While most teenage tennis players are working their way through the junior ranks, Coco Gauff achieved world No. 1 junior rankings well before she could play on the circuit full- time due to limitations placed on players based solely on age.

With a third round showing at her maiden US Open, Gauff will break into the WTA’s top 100 rankings by tournament’s end and take over as the youngest player ranked in that category as well as one of the youngest ranked on the Tour as a whole - since the Open, she won her maiden WTA title as a lucky loser - the youngest WTA title holder in more than a decade. Although she lost in straight sets against top-ranked Osaka, it’s what happened after the match that won the hearts of everyone watching. Instead of letting Gauff walk off the court and into the lonely locker room alone, Osaka consoled her teary-eyed opponent and then shared the limelight with the thousands of fans who came out to Ashe stadium to witness history in the making, and the millions of viewers watching from home. Two girls who train out of the same facility in Florida had officially “made it” on the big stage, a fact that Osaka had pointed out that also brought her to tears. It’s moments like these that help to further women’s tennis and prevent any mental lapses from creeping in, which can happen, especially in junior tennis. It’s no secret that in juniors, the players exhibit immature behavior when compared to how the pros would handle similar situations.

In light of her recent successes on the pro circuit, it was in the juniors that players like Gauff honed their tennis-playing skills, as well as players like rising Americans Amanda Anisimova, Sonya Kenin and Caty McNally. In this year’s US Open, Kenin reached the third round before falling to compatriot Madison Keys, while McNally famously took a set off of six-time US Open champion and crowd favorite Serena Williams. Anisimova was missing from competition due to the unfortunate, sudden passing of her father. It’s important to note that the story of Gauff’s meteoric rise to tennis stardom is not the first time that an American prodigy has taken the tennis world by storm in recent years.

After winning the girls’ 18s super national championships in 2014, Catherine “CiCi” Bellis earned an automatic wildcard entry into the US Open. At that time, and after beating Dominika Cibulkova in the opening round, Bellis was the youngest American tennis player since Lindsay Davenport in 1991 to advance in Flushing Meadows. Like Gauff, Bellis dominated on the junior circuit and played well beyond her years. Recently, however, Bellis had voiced regret over her decision to forego a full-ride to Stanford University as she’s unfortunately been plagued by injuries. Similar to Gauff, Bellis was touted to be the next big thing in American tennis; while she did climb to a career-high of No. 35 in the world, tennis experts had predicted a higher ranking climb and lengthier career life.

Just two short years ago, Gauff became the youngest junior US Open finalist in the history of the tournament, falling in straight sets to future Roland Garros semi-finalist Anisimova.

Junior tennis players are the sport’s future, and the match quality on the outer courts of the Billie Jean King Tennis Center can rival that of what you might see on Ashe or Armstrong. I know this because I myself was once one of the top American junior female tennis players and had the opportunity to compete against some future great tennis players.

Regardless of how competitive junior matches are, not many casual tennis fans take notice. But think about how many of the sport’s legends broke through after having success on the junior tour first. Few people may be watching, but it’s totally worth it to stop by the outer courts this coming week as you never know whom you might see. In the juniors, I was fortunate enough to play future world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, French Open finalist Sara Errani and Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki, among others. I played against Azarenka in the 2004 U.S. Open juniors. What do I remember most? That she would giggle in the locker room while getting her legs stretched after matches. Even though we were from different countries and had slightly different goals as tennis players, I remember cracking jokes with her and feeling relaxed in her presence. These were nice, innocent moments among teenagers that could have just as easily happened at a beach. But the actual tennis, now that was a different story. I was looking to play in college and then turn pro, while she was heading straight to the pro tour.

That’s a lot of pressure for a young person. I felt the heat when competing in doubles at the now rebranded Legg Mason tournament three weeks before college started at Columbia University in the city of New York; on my side of the net was Madison Brengle, and we were playing Tatiana Poutchek and future 2019 Wimbledon champion Hsieh Su-wei. After running around the side post for a winner that technically went under the net, I avoided colliding with the ball boy and wound up tearing my ACL and meniscus instead, forcing us to retire. I’ll never forget sitting in my surgeon’s office, him telling me that I should never play competitive tennis again. Because of that diagnosis, I played a little bit in college for Columbia, red-shirted and gave it another go at Northwestern as a walk-on graduate student, but couldn’t balance grad work with the demands of college tennis.

Looking back at my experience playing on Court 7 at the US Open, there was more pressure than just looking across the net at Azarenka. I was representing my country, Long Island, Jericho Senior High School and even my clothing sponsor, Fila. I was the only female American junior tennis player at the time to have received a clothing and shoe sponsorship from Fila - and the only player from Long Island competing on the women's ITF pro and junior girls' circuit in top tournaments. Since there is no monetary gain for junior players, it's beyond cool in the mind of a teenager to wear first-class clothes from a brand like Fila. After all, it was what my idol Kim Clijsters was wearing. Could I really become the next Kim Clijsters? As cool as it was to think that, expectations, whether self-imposed or not, can weigh a player down. Tennis is one of the most physically and mentally taxing sports, which can present challenges - particularly for young players who are still maturing in both those areas.

Going into that match against Azarenka, I didn’t believe I could win. As most coaches would say, believing you can win is the first step toward translating that into a reality. I’ll never forget how consistent Azarenka’s groundstrokes were, how hard she clocked the ball, and her overall grit – those aspects of her junior game carried into her professional one. Still, I was just one forehand volley away from taking the second set. But the nerves crept in and eventually, Azarenka won the match in two tight sets. Azarenka won the Australian Open twice and was a finalist at the 2012 and 2013 U.S. Open. She’s still playing and travels on the tour with her young son. Now, it’s still also possible for a mother to take the title in Serena Williams, who could emulate Kim Clijsters and take the title, baby in tow. It’s impossible to tell whether a player, like Gauff, for example, will become an Azarenka, Errani or Lisicki. What’s for sure is that junior competition allows for a unique opportunity to see some of the best tennis players in the making – and they will more than likely grow with time. So, rather than sit up in the nose-bleeds in Ashe and squint to see the top pros, take a walk to the outer courts and look up close at their roots to see where the champion-like seed was planted. Look closely and the next Coco Gauff is about to break through.

Elizabeth Kobak has written and covered the sport extensively, and have represented the United States at the junior US Open, Wimbledon, Australian Open, Italian Open and many more renowned international tennis tournaments. A graduate of Jericho Senior High School and lifelong resident of Old Westbury, she became the No. 1 junior tennis player in the United States and reached a career-high ITF junior ranking of 100 in singles and WTA singles ranking of 570 when I was 18 years old. Most recently, she won all three “triple crown” events on grass in the Open division of the USTA National Championships in singles, doubles and mixed at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, as well as the 30s grass Nationals in singles at the West Side Tennis Club (the original site of the US Open).