USTA Player Development adds three coaches

November 17, 2010 03:25 PM
The USTA announced three new coaching hires – Jorge Todero as a USTA Lead National Coach, Frederico Rodriguez as a USTA National Coach and Marc Lucero as a USTA Coach. All three hires will facilitate coaching and training programs while working with players in the USTA Player Development program.

Todero will be based at the USTA Training Center-East at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y., and will report to Jose Higueras, the Director of Coaching for USTA Player Development. Rodriguez and Lucero will both work in women’s tennis at their respective locations; Rodriguez will be based at the USTA Training Center-Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., while Lucero will work at the USTA Training Center-West in Carson, Calif. They both will report to Ola Malmqvist, Head of Women’s Tennis, USTA Player Development. Lucero joined the staff on Oct. 4, Todero on Nov. 8, and Rodriguez on Nov. 15.

"Jorge, Frederico and Marc are strong additions to our coaching staff, and all three bring different experiences to our program," said Patrick McEnroe, General Manager, USTA Player Development. "Jorge brings over 30 years of coaching experience on both the professional tours and at private academies and has worked with a number of top players from all over the world. Frederico has international playing experience and has directed a top-notch facility for the last five years, and Marc brings collegiate coaching experience in addition to already serving as a part-time coach for our program. All three are well equipped to help our students reach their maximum potential."

Todero, 61, of Weston, Fla., has served as a professional coach for 30 years and joins the USTA following a four-year stint as owner and director of Todero Tennis Training Academy in Pembroke Pines, Fla., where he worked with a number of top players, including Colombian Carlos Salamanca. From 2004-05, he worked exclusively with American Meghann Shaughnessy, and he also coached top-10 players Alberto Mancini and Martine Jaite during his career. He served as captain of the Argentine Fed Cup team from 1990-96 and coached Gabriela Sabatini at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

Rodriguez, 30, joins the USTA from Rome, Ga., where he served as Director of Tennis at the Coosa Country Club. He has coached nationally ranked junior players in all age groups, including 13-year-old Andie Daniell, who in 2009 won a USTA Girls’ 12s National Open and the doubles title at the USTA Girls’ 12s National Clay Court Championships. Rodriguez competed in Davis Cup for the Dominican Republic from 2004-06, and he represented the Dominican Republic in both the World Junior Tennis Competition and Junior Davis Cup throughout the 1990s. Rodriguez has spent the last two years serving as a part-time coach for USTA Player Development and has participated in 10 USTA Certified Regional Training Center camps.

Lucero, 30, comes to the USTA from Manhattan Beach, Calif., where he has worked as a private coach since 2007, working with top junior players, including 2009 NCAA Champion Mallory Cecil and Southern Cal senior Lyndsay Kinstler. He has spent the last two years as a part-time coach at the USTA Training Center-West in Carson, Calif., where he has worked with Ryan Harrison, among other players. From 2004-07, Lucero served as an assistant coach for the Princeton University women’s tennis team. Lucero himself played collegiately at Boston College from 1998-2002, where he became the first freshman in school history to record a 20-win season and was a two-time team captain during his junior and senior seasons.

The USTA Player Development unit has been created to identify and develop the next generation of American champions by surrounding the top junior players and young pros with the resources, facilities and coaching they need to reach their maximum potential. The Player Development program is based at the USTA Training Center-Headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., and also utilizes the USTA Training Center-West in Carson, Calif., and the USTA Training Center-East in Flushing, N.Y. In 2008, the USTA began implementing its Certified Regional Training Center program as part of its expanded efforts to develop future American tennis champions, which will expand the USTA Player Development program’s reach throughout the country by partnering with academies, clubs and tennis centers that have a proven record of identifying and developing tennis players. The USTA expects to name approximately 15 Certified Regional Training Centers over the next five years.
 

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