When did you start to play tennis?

I think I was about 13.  I had wanted to start when I was younger, but the local coach my parents knew didn’t train young children.  I finally played with my brother and some friends and basically picked up a racquet and could play. I played once more with my dad and my third time on a Tennis Court was in a match.  It was an uphill struggle to learn to play as I had to wait 18 months to get into the local club – the waiting list was 2 years, but my mum got fed up with me hitting a ball against a wall of the house for hours every day.  I’m surprised there wasn’t a dent.  I stopped playing when I went to university and started again just 4 years ago.

Coaching Children

Why did you start playing again?

I missed it and decided that it was about time I started playing again for me.  It’s something I’ve always loved and should never have stopped playing.

Who do you most admire?

When I was growing up, I went to Wimbledon a few times with the school and queued for hours to get in.  At that time there was standing room on centre court, which meant queuing again, but it was worth it.  I saw Boris Becker play in his first ever Wimbledon, I saw John McEnroe, John Llyod, Billy Jean King, Chris Evert, Yannick Noah and many others.  Who do I most admire? Well, I was a big fan of Agassi and really enjoyed his book.  I believe Sampras, Federer, Navratilova, Steffi Graf, the Williams sisters, Federer, Nadal & Djokovic have taken the game to a whole different level and I have enormous respect for them all.  I do believe though that at the moment there are so many good players that predicting who will win a Grand Slam is so hard -  I really can’t remember a time before when it was so competitive.  At any other time, Andy Murray would have won a Grand Slam.  I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what happens in 2012 and seeing who realises their potential.

What is the best part of your game?

Well, it’s always evolving.  Even the top players in the world are always trying to add that extra bit to their game.  A coach should be the same – we are always looking to  improve our own game and find better ways to teach.  It never stops.

My serve has been a strong point, but at the moment (in the close season) I am modifying it so I would say it is not such weapon currently.  It should come out of these changes better than ever.  I have also always believed in the importance of the return of serve (inspired by Andre Agassi) and can return most serves.  I often play against men and have never felt I’ve lost because they are men – it’s been because I have made more mistakes.

What would you like to change?

I would like to become more consistent.  I have worked on this and have improved, but if you look at the statistics, something like at least 65% of points at the highest level of the game are lost by a player making a mistake and not by him/her making a winning shot.  It’s something I always emphasise to my pupils.

Why did you become a coach?

I love tennis and I wanted to play tennis every day.  I’d taught a few people to play and enjoyed doing it.  The opportunity came up and I took it.

Who do you teach?

My youngest pupil is 3 years old and I believe he will become a good player.  I also do a number of After School Clubs as I believe it is very important to work at the grass roots level.  I also enjoy it.  My main goal though is to ensure the children have fun and learn to love tennis and sport in general.  I’m a big believer that tennis, more than any other sport, teaches sportsmanship, courtesy and respect for your opponent as well as many other great qualities.

I teach adults as well, from beginners through to advanced players using a blend of different techiques, adapting my teaching to suit the pupil.  Everyone is different, everyone’s brain works slightly differently and my job is to find the best way for each pupil to learn.  There are obviously common factors, such as whether you learn better using visual, more technical/analytical, or more sound driven etc.  Again, I make sure people have fun.  Tennis is actually a really good way to get fit, so some of my pupils do tennis instead of going to the gym because they can never get motivated by running on a treadmill.

What nationalities are they?

My pupils are all nationalities, including British, Bulgarian, Cypriot, Greek and of course Russian.  I hold my classes in English, Greek, French and less fluently in German, Spanish and Russian.  I’m certainly working on improving my Russian at the moment.

Adults Intensive Tennis Weeks

What is your opinion of Tennis in Cyprus?

The Cyprus Tennis Federation (CTF) does quite a good job with the juniors, but nothing much for adults and especially women.  Unfortunately there are very few women competing in tournaments in Cyprus, but hopefully this will change – I’m doing as much as I can to encourage it.

What I think is lacking is inter-club tournaments.  There should be regular Tennis Matches between Tennis Clubs and ideally schools as well.  This would help improve the standard of play, giving players something to aim for and hopefully motivating more people to compete.

Are there tournaments you can play in?

Absolutely.  There are the official CTF tournaments, for which you need a medical card and to apply for membership.  You can find out more info here.

Also, there a several amateur tournaments such as the ATL and Mad4Tennis.  You don’t need a card for this and the ATL, for example, runs different levels of tournaments and a league, so that complete beginners playing their first ever match can take part, as well as semi-pros.  This is very important as there are players of all nationalities taking part, some of whom have competed in their home countries.  This makes it far more competitive and will bring up the level of tennis in Cyprus as a whole.  After all, that is our goal.

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So, it’s now the New Year. Time flies when you’re having fun.  It seems only yesterday that it was November and there were 3-4 months to prepare for the 2012 season.  Now it’s January and i feel I have not made enough progress, especially on fitness.  Christmas is now over and after all the food, it’s time to slim down and get fit.  One of the things I want to concentrate on is strengthening areas where I am more prone to injury.  Core strength and stability are also very important.  So today the new programme starts.

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How about you?  If you are a serious tennis player looking to work on your fitness, or someone who is looking to have fun while getting fit, click here.  Tennis is a great way to get fit while enjoying yourself and for those looking for real tennis specific training then their personal trainer and sports therapist is an expert on tennis fitness.  Have you seen the latest news about Baghdatis?  He’s been working hard on his fitness to get in shape for 2012 and hopefully move up the rankings.

So what do you have planned?

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The last ATL Tennis Tournament of 2011 is drawing to a close.  The ATL 1000 Singles finals for both Limassol and Nicosia are taking place in the luxurious surroundings of Aphrodite Hills this Saturday afternoon.

At Aphrodite Hills there are 5 hardcourts and 4 sublime clay courts – if you’ve ever played on them, you will know they are championship standard.  A fitting place to hold these finals and sign off 2011 with a flourish.

So who’s playing?

In the Nicosia ATL 1000 Finals, Yiannos Trillides, seeded no 1 in Nicosia and 2 in Cyprus in the ATL rankings, will be facing Petros Ioannou, seeded  5 in Nicosia and 13 in Cyprus.  Have they played each other before?  I don’t know, so if anyone does have that info, please send it into us.

In the Limassol ATL 1000 Finals, Dimitry Lazerev, seeded no 4 in Limassol and 7 in Cyprus, will be looking to end Limassol and Cyprus’ no 1 Marios Papacharalambous’ unbeaten run.  Will he succeed?

Have you noticed though, that all the finalists are men?  Where are the women?  There are some very good female players in Cyprus, but not many have yet signed up to play in the ATL tournaments.  If you’re a female tennis player, why not take part?  I’ve played a number of times in ATL tournaments and never felt I lost because I was playing a man – I lost because I made errors.  So, come on all you women players join us and take pleasure in beating the men

And, if you’d like to watch some top flight tennis, then come along on Saturday afternoon.  Pull up a chair, have a drink and watch the matches unfold.

Vouchers available for Tennis Coaching

Any way, you can arrange a voucher by clicking here and contacting the coach.  There are both vouchers for individual and group lessons in the Pafos area.

It’s that time of year again, the Cyprus Masters is just about finishing and the ITF Seniors Tennis Tournament will soon be starting at the Aldiana Hotel in Larnaca.  It is still open for entries and the form can be found by clicking on Aus_und_Anm_Zyp_11_eng

Watching the matches at the ITF Seniors

We hope you can take part. It’s open to women over 40 and men over 35.  The standard of players varies from fairly basic to pretty advanced, so it’s well worth the experience.  Everyone there is very helpful and with snacks and beer on tap, what more can you ask

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Start of the ATL 500 Singles Final - who's to serve?

Ο διαιτητής και υπεύθυνος προπονητής στο Aphrodite Hills, Wyn Lewis, είπε « Θα ήθελα να συγχαρώ όλους τους παίχτες σήμερα. Έπαιξαν σε πολύ καλό επίπεδο κάτω από δύσκολες συνθήκες, με αρκετά δυνατό άνεμο καθ’ολη την διάρκεια του παιχνιδιού. Αυτό είναι ένα σπουδαίο παράδειγμα για το πόσο ενδιαφέρουσα μπορεί να είναι η αντισφαίριση και ανυπομονώ για την περαιτέρω ανάπτυξη του αθλήματος στην Κύπρο.»

Στο πρώτο του τουρνουά ATL , ο Λούκας Στυλιανού πίεσε αρκετά τον Δημήτρη στο πρώτο σετ των ατομικών, αλλά ένας τραυματισμός προς το τέλος του σετ επηρέασε την απόδοσή του. Συνέχισε να μάχεται παρόλ’αυτά μέχρι τέλους, αλλά από οτι φάνηκε ήταν η μέρα του Δημήτρη. Το επιθετικό, αλλά και επίμονο στυλ του επικράτησε.

Στα διπλά ο Λουκάς Τουμάζης και ο Colin Relton, αντεπιτέθηκαν έχοντας μείνει ένα σετ πίσω και οδήγησαν σε παράταση το τρίτο σετ όπου το πλεονέκτημα ταλαντευόταν μπρος πίσω ανάμεσα στα ζεύγη. Τελικά Ο Γιάννος και ο Μενέλαος επέμειναν και νίκησαν.

All four finalists of the ATL 500 Doubles

Ο κύριος Νίκος Τσανγκαρίδης, ιδρυτή του ATL,είπε σχετικά « Καταρχήν θα ήθελα να ευχαριστήσω όλους που έλαβαν μέρος σήμερα. Υπήρχε πολύ ωραία ατμόσφαιρα και πραγματική ευγενική άμιλλα; αυτό ακριβώς που αντιπροσωπεύει το ATL. Ιδρύσαμε τα ATL τουρνουά αντισφαίρισης για να προσφέρουμε σε όλους την ευκαιρία να αγωνιστούν , να βελτιώσουν τις δεξιότητές τους και να διασκεδάσουν. Παράλληλα, θέλαμε να δημιουργήσουμε μια κοινότητα αντισφαίρισης όπου ο κόσμος θα είχε την ευκαιρία να γνωριστεί , να παρακολουθήσει αντισφαίριση, να συζητήσει αλλά και να κανονίσει παιχνίδια με τους υπόλοιπους. Εκπλάγηκα όταν άκουσα κόσμο να λέει πως δεν βρίσκουν άτομα να παίξουν μαζί τους και το ATL είναι ένας τρόπος να ξεπεραστεί αυτό.»

Ξεκινώντας το 2011 , το ATL ( www.atlcyprus.com) απέκτησε μεγάλη δημοσιότητα σε σύντομο χρονικό διάστημα. Παρέχει στους ερασιτέχνες παίχτες του τένις στην Κύπρο την ευκαιρία να αναμετρηθούν με άλλους παίχτες, κερδίζοντας πόντους στην κατηγορία τους στην πορεία. Υπάρχει μεγάλη γκάμα από τουρνουά που διεξάγονται και το καθένα στοχεύει σε διαφορετικές ικανότητες δίνοντας την ευκαιρία σε αρχάριους μέχρι και ημι-επαγγελματίες να λάβουν μέρος. Οι παίχτες μπορούν να εγγραφούν τώρα για τα επόμενα τουρνουά στην ιστοσελίδα www.altcyprus.com.

The ATL (Amateur Tennis League) 500 Limassol finals took place this Saturday 5^thNovember 2011 at Aphrodite Hills.  The winner of the singles was Dimitris Giorgiou from Nicosia in straight sets with a scoreline of 6-4 6-0.  In the doubles, Yiannos Trillides and Menelaos Theodoulou were victorious edging paste in the ties breaker to take it at 6-3 3-6 7-6 (8-5).

Start of the ATL 500 Singles Final - who's to serve?

Umpire and head coach at Aphrodite Hills, Wyn Lewis, said, “I’d like to congratulate all the players today.  They played at a very good level in tough conditions, with the wind pretty strong throughout.  This is a great example of how exciting tennis can be and I’m looking forward to seeing it grow further here in Cyprus.”

In his first ATL tournament, Loukas Stylianou pushed Dimitris hard in the first set of the singles, but an injury at the end of the set put paid to his chances.  He carried on fighting through to the end, but it was Dimitris’ day.  His aggressive, attacking style won through.

In the doubles, Loukas Toumazis and Colin Relton fought back from a set down and took it to a tie breaker in the third set, where the advantage swung back and forth.  Eventually Yiannos and Menelaos toughed it out and won.

All four finalists of the ATL 500 Doubles

According to Nikos Tsangarides, founder of ATL, “First I’d like to thank everyone who competed today.  There was a great atmosphere and true sportsmanship; exactly what ATL represents. We created the ATL tennis tournaments provide everyone with the chance to compete, improve their tennis and have fun.  At the same time, we wanted to create a tennis community, where people can meet, watch and talk about tennis and arrange to play each other.  Surprisingly enough, I often hear people saying they have no one to play with and ATL is one way to overcome this.”

Started in 2011, the ATL (www.atlcyprus.com) has been growing rapidly in popularity.  It provides amateur tennis players throughout Cyprus with the opportunity to pitch their skill against other players competitively, earning points towards their ranking as they progress.  There are a variety of tournaments taking place each aimed at different tennis playing abilities, enabling someone playing their first ever match through to semi-professionals to take part.   Players can register now for the next tournaments on the website at www.atlcyprus.com.

Hope to meet you playing in the tournaments

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Are you coming this Saturday 5th of November to the ATL 500 Singles and Doubles finals   at Aphrodite’s Hills?  It’s an opportunity to see some great tennis, soak up the atmosphere of one of the best tennis centres in Cyprus and meet other people to play tennis with.  If you’ve ever complained that you can’t find people to play with, why not come along, you’re sure to find someone there who you can arrange to play with.  There’s shaded seating, a bar and of course ice cream

So, down to the Tennis Finals themselves.  After a number of tough matches, the players in the Singles Final are:

Dimitris Georgiou (3)  v Loukas Stylianou (13)

In the Doubles final, the following players will be fighting it out:

Yannos Trillides and Menelaos Theodoulou
v
Loukas Toumazis and Colin Relton

Good luck to everyone and hope to see you there!!

If you’re interested in finding out more about the ATL Tennis tournaments click here.  They are open to complete beginners through to advanced players.

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Image by Carine06 via Flickr

Cyprus Tennis – reviews the latest news from Aphrodite Hills Tennis Academy – 19 October 2011 – Tennis in Cyprus

After visiting Aphrodite Hills several times, Annabel Croft and her tennis academy look like they will be hooking up with the Aphrodite Hills Tennis Academy.  Cyprus Tennis will be interviewing her later, but for now, the news has been announced and i can say that I for one am very happy.  What do you think?

She has developed her own style of coaching from her experience all round the world and seems determined to see the academy reach its potential.  If you’re interested, you can read the press release.

Let’s hear your views!

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Cyprus Tennis – asks Why Do You Like Tennis? – 29 August 2011 – Tennis in Cyprus

So why do you love Tennis?  I’ve been thinking about it.  I’m definitely addicted to tennis and I’m trying to work out why.  I love it as a sport.  I suppose firstly because I could pick up a racquet and play so I almost feel like I’m meant to play it, but that’s just a small part of it.  I love hitting the ball, I love winning, I love the chess game that goes on as you move the other person around the court and try to outsmart them.  Still, I don’t think that’s everything.  I like the adrenaline I get from it and I like getting better at it.  I like the social side of it as well.

What do you think?  Why do you  love tennis?  I’d love to hear from you.

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