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

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

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

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

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.

Tennis Professional

Nicholas Adzema

Nick Adzema is originally from Akron, Ohio.  He graduated with a Bachelor’s in Math Education at Kent State University.   During his four years at Kent State, Nick became founder and competitor of the Kent State Tennis Club, where the team qualified for Nationals in 2017.  He has worked with youth tennis players of all ages since 2015 in his hometown.  Nick taught mathematics and coached tennis at Eastside High School in 2019, where the girls tennis team made history as top 8 in the state of Georgia.

In his free time, he enjoys playing doubles with his twin brother, watching college basketball, rooting on his Cleveland sports teams, and playing cards with family and friends.

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

Mary Katherine Lewis

Mary Kathrine Lewis (MK) was born and raised in Marietta, Georgia, attending high school at Mount Paran Christian School. She went to college at Auburn University, where she played tennis there for four years (2014-2018). In 2016 and 2017, MK’s team went to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history. She was named All SEC Academic honor roll for three years and ITA tennis scholar award. In May 2018, MK graduated with a degree in Communication and a minor in Business. Post graduation, she extended her studies pursuing a Masters degree in Leadership, Policy, and Organization at Samford University. During her time at Samford, MK used her last year of eligibility to play for the tennis team in the 2018-2019 season. Mary Katherine used her extra time coaching at Homewood Tennis Academy in Birmingham, Alabama. Mary Katherine received her Masters degree in December 2019.

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.