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 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
– Volunteer at Serve and Connect at Washington Park
– 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

Director

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 current 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.

Tennis Professional

Cheikh Salif Kante

Salif hails from Dakar, Senegal where he grew up playing at the Olympique Tennis Club of Dakar. He graduated from Florida A&M with a degree in Public Relations.  While at Florida A&M Salif was an NJCAA All-American. Salif played on the ATP Tour with wins over players ranked #662 and #604. Before joining UTA, he worked three years at Harp Performance Tennis. Salif enjoys working with adults and juniors of all level, from beginner to elite.

Salif is married and enjoys soccer, swimming and time spent at the beach.

Tennis Professional

Clement Darko

Clement was born in Accra, Ghana where he learned to play tennis. In 1998, he was named to Ghana’s Davis Cup team and he competed professionally on the men’s tennis circuit. He was consistently ranked Nationally in the top 5 and achieved a top 80 ranking on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junior Circuit. He won two junior doubles tournaments with partner Lleyton Hewitt. As a junior, he was brought to the United States on a tennis scholarship to the world-famous John Newcomb Tennis Ranch in New Braunfels, Texas. He has coached several highly ranked junior players. Clement has coached tennis for over ten years and is USPTA and GPTA Certified. In his spare time, Clement enjoys playing soccer and working out in the gym.

Tennis Professional

Daniel Rush

Daniel Rush hails from Jacksonville, FL. He attended Georgia Southern University (GSU) and College of Coastal Georgia (CCGA), earning a Psychology Degree. Daniel was a top Florida junior player. He played singles and doubles at GSU and was a volunteer assistant coach at CCGA.

Daniel’s family lives in Florida. He enjoys basketball, watching “Game of Thrones,” going to church and the Celtics!! He likes working with children and adults of all ages.

Tennis Professional

Jonny Roberts

Jonny is a native of London, England and is a UKPTR certified coach who played three years of college tennis at U.W.I.C. in Wales, Great Britain.  He graduated with honors while earning his BA in Physical Education and Sports. Jonny grew up in a London suburb where he taught High School Physical Education for 7 years.  In 2008 he moved to the United States to further his studies.  He earned an MBA at the University of Southern Indiana.

Jonny specializes in coaching adults and has helped develop and expand a range of adult tennis programs.  He is also passionate about developing academy players.  Off the court, Jonny’s interests include golf, soccer, pool and badminton. He has recently fallen in love with American professional sports such as football, baseball and Nascar. One of his favorite sporting events is March Madness, as anyone would be after residing in Indiana.

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

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.

Tennis Professional

Pam Rock

Pam is from Trumbull, Connecticut. She was the 1995 Connecticut State Open Singles Champion, a 4-time Division III Collegiate All American, and an NCAA Team Champion Division III in 1999. She also taught at The Longfellow Club in Wayland, MA and Athletic Club Northeast in Atlanta, GA.

Pam earned a BA in Psychology at Amherst College and a doctorate in physical therapy at Emory University. She is also a certified strength and conditioning specialist (STOTT pilates certified and Titleist Performance Institute certification).

She lives with her husband Michael and two daughters, Sara and Jordyn, who also play tennis. Pam enjoys taking spin classes, reading, traveling and being with her family.

Tennis Professional

Robert Parker

As an athlete, Robert excelled, winning state titles in soccer, martial arts, and tennis. Originally from Tampa, Robert chose to attend the University of Florida on a full academic scholarship and later continued his studies at MIT.

Robert is a certified tennis professional where he specializes in working with juniors that want to maximize their performance. He is certified by the Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) in Performance at the Professional level. He has two kids, both of whom play tennis. His son is an aspiring junior tournament player.

When he’s not on the court, he enjoys climbing mountains, traveling and watching college football.

Tennis Professional

Ryan Hughes

Once you hear Ryan out on the courts you will know he is originally from England. Ryan has worked at UTA since March 2007 and is part of the original coaching staff from the initial location at the Chattahoochee Plantation. Ryan helps oversee the 10 & Under class and Competitive group at Blackburn, as well as assisting Universal Tennis Management as International Programs Coordinator/Recruiter.

Ryan played at the University of Southern Indiana where he graduated with a degree in business administration. He was team captain his senior year and his team won the Conference Championship during his junior year. Before coming to the United States, Coach Hughes attended Sutton Junior High-Performance Tennis Center in London, England from 1999 to 2002 and played events in the UK tennis tour.

Ryan’s Mom and Dad, and his 4 older brothers still live in England. When not teaching juniors, Ryan is a scratch golfer and enjoys working on his car collection.

Tennis Professional

Steven Lewis

Steven Lewis is a Certified ITPA Tennis Performance Trainer. He has been working with tennis players for over seven years and trains children and adults of all ages and athletic ability. He trains individual well as in group settings. He is constantly studying and reading about new advances in fitness/sports to incorporate into his training methods. Steven continues to improve his knowledge by attending seminars and workshops through the USTA. Steven is in the process of achieving his ITPA Tennis Performance Coach certification. Steven is an ITPA Certified Tennis Performance Trainer, NASM Certified Personal Trainer, and ASF Certified Speed and Agility Coach.

Tennis Professional

Sunday Emmanuel

Sunday was born in Kaduna, Nigeria where he learned to play tennis at the Kaduna Country Club. He competed in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior circuit and won several ITF junior championships. He was a member of the Nigerian Davis Cup team and competed professionally on the men’s tennis circuit where he was ranked #1 and won several national championships. Prior to joining UTM, Sunday worked at Triangle Tennis Academy where he coached children and juniors of all levels.

He enjoys working with adults and juniors, from beginner to elite categories.  Sunday currently works as a strategist with current ATP players and enjoys working with our UTM players. In his spare time, he likes watching and playing soccer as well as having a good time with family and friends.

Tennis Professional

Shannon Calder

Shannon Calder hails from Auckland, New Zealand. He attended Auckland University to study law but left after two years. Shannon has 20+ years of playing experience and has coached for two years. He is USPTR certified.

Shannon is a business owner with AnoLIST (testing mechanic honesty). When not teaching of the courts, Shannon enjoys motor racing. He has three sisters and two brothers.

Shannon will be on the courts at Chastain Park Tennis Center working with all ages and abilities.