UTA Partner

Patti O’Reilly

Patti O’Reilly has competed internationally on the women’s professional tennis circuit, competing in all four Grand Slam Championships. Patti graduated Cum Laude from Duke University with a degree in Economics. Patti and her identical triplet sisters brought the Duke women’s tennis program to national prominence.

Patti was a recipient of the 2020 Georgia Professional Tennis Association of Phoenix award as well as the 2022 GPTA George Amaya Tennis Director of the Year.

Patti and her sisters have been inducted into the Duke University Hall of Fame and even have a court named after them at the Duke tennis facility. She was a four-time All-ACC player, a two-time ITA All-American and the 1990 ACC Player of the Year. Patti and her sisters have also been inducted into the Eastern Tennis Association Hall of Fame. As a junior player, Patti captured the Rolex International Junior Championship.

Patti and her husband, James, have two dogs, Duke and Duchess. In their spare time, they enjoy playing golf, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.

Work in the Community:
– Organizes Saturday monthly clinic for Dreammakers at Blackburn Tennis Center
– Volunteered at Montgomery Elementary school
– Volunteer at teach-a-thons to raise funds for AYTEF
– Volunteer at Montgomery Elementary School in spring to teach tennis to young children
– Assist in coordinating wheelchair tennis at Blackburn Tennis Center

Partner

Noel Wadawu

Noel is well known and respected in the Atlanta tennis scene. He has coached several top-ranked national junior and professional players, including former touring professional Melanie Oudin.

Before joining the Universal Tennis Academy team, Noel taught tennis at The Riverside Club in Atlanta for 11 years and was the Director at The Riverside Club for five years. Collegiately, he played at Florida A&M where he was 3-time Academic All-American as well as the recipient of the Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship Award.

A native of Zimbabwe, Noel was the African Junior Doubles Champion. He is married with two lovely daughters.

Work in the Community:

• Has organized clothing and equipment drives for those in need in Zimbabwe
• Volunteer for various AYTEF fundraisers 
• Volunteer coach for DreamMakers

Tennis Professional

Levan Clark

Levan Clark is originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin but moved to Florida when he was 10 years old. He attended Florida A&M University majoring in Business Administration. At Florida A&M, he competed on the men’s nationally ranked tennis team. He was First Team All-Conference as well as Florida A&M Player of the Year. He also placed first in the University of Florida Invitational Tournament. Levan was a highly ranked national junior and competed in all the prominent junior championships from the Orange Bowl, Easter Bowl, National Hard Court Championships at Kalamazoo.

He has two older brothers and likes to play football and basketball. He enjoys working with kids and adults of all ages.

Tennis Professional

Annette Rios Gil

Annette is originally from El Salvador where she was Ranked #1 in her country at age 16 and 18. She attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, majoring in International Global Studies and Spanish. Annette played NCAA Division I at UNC-G where she earned the Southern Conference First Team-All-Conference Honors in singles, and SoCon Honor Roll. She also attended Georgia Southern University receiving a Masters in Sociology. While at GSU, Annette worked as the women’s assistant coach for the tennis team. She previously worked at John McEnroe Tennis Academy in Long Island for various years. She also worked with the ITF, traveling with high performance players of Central American and Caribbean. In 2019, Annette was Captain of the El Salvador Fed Cup Junior team in Canada. She is ITF level 2 certified.

Tennis Professional

Pete Nguyen

Originally from Long Beach, California, Pete moved to the Peach State at the age of 13. He is certified by the USPTA as an Elite Professional Coach. He was on a tennis scholarship to Young Harris College, but it was cut short due to a shoulder injury. He was undefeated (1-0)! After transferring, he attended Clayton State University and graduated with a degree in Sociology.

Pete was Head Professional at Eagles Landing Country Club, then Metairie Country Club in Louisiana. While in New Orleans, he was also the Head Coach for both boys and girls at Isidore Newman where boys were Metro Champs in 2014 & ‘15 and girls in 2015.

In his free time, he enjoys playing poker, bowling, crocheting and a little golf.

Tennis Professional

Evgeny Silitski

Tennis Professional

Liam Villante

Liam Villante grew up in Marietta, Georgia where he competed in state, sectional, and national tournaments. While completing his BA in Sport Management at Kennesaw State University, he managed three adult programs across two locations for management group Atlantic Recreation, and worked seasonally at five-star resort, The Cloister, alongside French Open doubles champion Luke Jensen. He spent his last two semesters interning with USTA Atlanta where he assisted with the Atlanta Youth Tennis & Education Foundation’s (AYTEF) programs and fundraisers. Liam is a member of PTR’s “Gamechangers” – an international group of pros under 30 who seek to influence the next generation of industry leaders and coaches. At the 2020 PTR International Symposium, Liam presented on pickleball, explaining the future of the sport and the impact it could have on a club. When away from the courts, Liam is an avid reader and enjoys to golf.

Director of Tennis

Ross Beall

Ross, who is from Roswell, GA, started working with UTA while still in high school serving as a junior professional at Chattahoochee Plantation Tennis Club. Upon graduation, Ross received a scholarship to play at Oglethorpe University. While attending Oglethorpe, he was a 4-year starter and served as team captain.

Ross graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Business Administration/Economics and was voted Male Scholar Athlete of the Year in both 2010 and 2011. He also made the SCAC All-Academic Team all four years while at Oglethorpe.

Ross is a conditioning nut and works out with weights, cycles, runs, and participates in fitness competitions. He loves playing in any outdoor sports and enjoys watching college football, college basketball, and any Georgia Tech sports teams!

Tennis Professional

Ornella Di Salvo

Ornella, who is from Cordoba, Argentina, played in numerous ITF junior tournaments throughout South America including Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Brazil. She attended Austin Peay State University where she earned a degree in business administration with concentrations in international management, marketing and a minor in finance. Ornella was 2-time ALL-OVC Conference Player of the Year; 2-time MVP at Austin Peay; 1-time Most Improved Player of the Year; and 1-time OVC Conference Adidas Player of the Week.

Prior to joining the UTA team, Ornella coached at the Summit Chase Country Club. She was also the assistant men’s and women’s coach at TWU in 2016. Her sister who is also a tennis player was 2-time NAIA national champion. Ornella enjoys spending time with my family, shopping, listening to music and traveling.

Tennis Professional

Erica Zabkar

Erica, who is from Roswell, Georgia, is a former student at Universal Tennis Academy. She played collegiately for the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where she earned First Team All Southern Conference honors. As an assistant Women’s Tennis Coach at UNCG, Erica helped guide the Spartans to a Southern Conference regular-season championship in 2012. She won the 2012 ITA Carolinas Assistant Coach of the Year award. While continuing her master’s degree, Erica worked with juniors at Green Valley Swim & Tennis Club in Greensboro, NC.

Erica earned a Master’s (2011) and Bachelor’s (2008) of Science in Kinesiology from the UNCG. She completed Master’s of Science in Athletic Training from University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) in May 2014. She is currently a certified and Licensed Athletic Trainer. Erica enjoys working with players of all ages and abilities.

Tennis Professional

Trey Walston

Trey grew up in Birmingham, AL where he played state, sectional, and national tournaments from the age of 11. He attended the University of Alabama and was a member of the tennis team for four years.  Trey was team captain for his junior an senior years. While in school Trey was a member of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee as well as on the SEC Academic Honor Roll. Trey graduated in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in Finance and Economics. He is PTR certified and works with children and adults of all levels.

When not on the tennis court, Trey is an avid traveler and enjoys playing golf and guitar.

Tennis Professional

Evan Stack

Evan grew up in Kennesaw, Georgia playing USTA junior tournaments at the state, sectional and national level. He attended North Cobb High School, where he helped the boys’ tennis team make the state 5A tournament all four years. After graduating, Evan played for the Bridgewater College men’s tennis team, a member of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC). Over two seasons, he put together a record of 25-9 in singles and 23-18 in doubles. Evan graduated from Kennesaw State University in 2016 with a degree in Accounting. Prior to working for UTA, he worked in the Higher Education industry as a recruiter and fundraiser. Evan works with players of all ages and skill levels.

Tennis Professional

Kyle Hartfield

Kyle Hartfield was raised and educated in Marietta, Ga. He grew up playing USTA JR tournaments at the state, southern, and national level. While attending Pope High School, Kyle was a member of the varsity team for all 4 years and lead the team to a State 4A National Championship title in his sophomore year. After HS graduation, he joined the Bridgewater College Men’s Tennis team for 4 years which was part of the Old Dominion Atlantic Conference (ODAC). He finished college with a 42-21 record in singles, mostly playing line 1 & 2.  Kyle made first-team all conference in singles for the majority of his college tenure, along with being a member of VA SID All State first team in singles his sophomore year. With a degree in Information Systems Management, Kyle joined the technological field as a technical support engineer/data analysis. He also started teaching tennis part time at Harrison Tennis Center and developed a real passion to teach.  He quickly turned into a full-time Tennis Professional.  Kyle has worked with players of all ages and skill levels. In his free time, he follows most sports, especially College/Professional Football. Kyle loves to go on hikes, play basketball, fish, and spend time outdoors with friends and family.

Tennis Professional

Mark Staats

Coach Staats, originally from Salisbury, NC, played Division 1 college tennis at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Mark played #1 Doubles and #4 Singles while earning his degree in Psychology. He is USPTA Certified and has been teaching for several years. Coach Staats enjoys teaching people of all ages and ability levels but mostly coaches adults and USTA/ALTA teams. When he has some free time he likes to play golf.

Tennis Professional

Marianna Land Taylor

Marianna was born and raised in Atlanta, GA. She played tennis and won the State Championship at the Lovett High School all four years. She played tennis at the University of Georgia where she was 1994 NCAA National Team Champion, 1994 & 1995 National Indoor Team Champion, 1994 SEC Team Champion. Marianna was named to the All-SEC team in 1995. She transferred to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for her last year of eligibility and graduated with a degree in Communication Studies.

Marianna is married and they have three children who also play competitive junior tennis. They enjoy participating/watching all sports and also enjoy spending time together with grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles.

Jonathan Perry

Jonathan Aaron Perry, born in Los Angeles, California and migrated to St. Vincent & The Grenadines at the age of 5.  He started playing tennis at the age of 7 and he played numerous national, regional & international tournaments(ITF) maintaining a top 3 ranking nationally for his entire junior career. During his years playing as a junior, he always expressed that he one day wanted to become a professional tennis coach.

He graduated from the St.Vincent Grammar School, the top high school on the island, with the highest merit in English B & Physics, with a 4.0 GPA.

He later moved back to the United States, where he continued coaching privately in the southern Atlanta region, before joining UTA.

Outside of tennis, his interests are music, song-writing and engineering, going to the beach and binge watching Spy/Espionage or Animal Series.

Emma Bentz

Emma is a former UTA student and a top Southern-level player. She recently graduated from Erskine College, where she played line #1 singles and doubles all four years. She was player-of-the-year two times in Conference Carolinas. She received the Female Athlete and Scholar Athlete awards at Erskine. Emma has a degree in Physical Education & Coaching. She has experience working with both junior and adult tennis players. UTA is excited to have her as a great addition to our staff. She will be teaching at various UTA locations around the city.