USA TENNIS HIGH PERFORMANCE NAMES
JEAN DESDUNES, DAVID RODITI AND ROBIN WHITE NATIONAL COACHES
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WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., June 20, 2005 - The USTA today announced that Jean Desdunes, David Roditi and Robin White have been named USA Tennis High Performance Coaches. Desdunes and White have joined the women's coaching staff, while Roditi has joined the men's coaching staff. Desdunes will work out of the USA Tennis High Performance Headquarters in Key Biscayne, Fla., while Roditi and White will work out of the USA Tennis High Performance Training Center in Carson, Calif.
Desdunes, a resident of Lawrenceville, Ga., was most recently the Multicultural Participation/ NJTL Coordinator for the USTA Southern Section. Before joining the USTA he was a tennis pro at Summit Chase Country Club in Snellville, Ga., for two years and Head Men's Tennis Coach at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) from 1988-98, where he coached four All-Americans and was named ACC Coach of the Year in 1988 and 1994. From 1985-89, he was a USTA National Team Travel Coach, where he helped train Todd Martin and Vince Spadea, among others. As a player, he was a two-time All-American and four-time All-ACC at Clemson University and was National Senior Player of the Year in 1983.
Roditi, a native of Mexico City who grew up in Southern California, was most recently Associate Director of the Tennis Academy at St. Stephen's Episcopal School in Austin, Texas. For two years prior, he was Assistant Men's Tennis Coach at the University of Texas at Austin. Roditi reached a career-high ATP doubles ranking of No. 41 in 1998 and represented Mexico in ten Davis Cup ties. He was a three-time All-American at Texas Christian University, and All-Southwest Conference four consecutive years. Roditi held the nation's No. 1 doubles ranking with teammate Paul Robinson for most of 1995 and 1996 college seasons.
White, a resident of San Diego, reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 15 in 12 years on the WTA Tour. She won the 1988 US Open women's doubles title with Gigi Fernandez, and the 1989 US Open mixed doubles title with Shelby Cannon. In all, she won three singles titles and 12 doubles titles, and represented the U.S. in Wightman Cup competition in 1987. White was a USTA National Coach from 1999-2001, the Athletic Director and Head Tennis Coach for U.S. International University for two years and a teaching pro at Pacific Athletic Club for three years.
USA Tennis High Performance is charged with facilitating the development of world-class American tennis champions, providing promising players with access to the best coaching, training and conditioning.
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The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the U.S. It owns and operates the US Open, the largest annually attended sporting event in the world and, in 2004, launched the US Open Series which links 11 summer tournaments to the US Open. In addition, it owns the 96 Pro Circuit events throughout the U.S., and selects the teams for the Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Olympic and Paralympic Games. A not-for-profit organization with more than 665,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, from the grassroots to the professional levels. For more information on the USTA, log on to usta.com.
For more information, contact:
Tim Curry, Senior Manager, Professional Tennis, USTA
(914) 696-7077; curry@usta.com