Tracy started playing tennis six years ago when she signed up for a class in the fall with the Naperville Park District. She loved this introduction to tennis and decided to continue playing at the Naperville Tennis Club. After playing doubles for a year, she decided to begin playing singles to work on her ground strokes. She discovered Gladiator Tennis, and earned the best regular season record of all the women players in the league for the Gladiator of the Year award. Not bad for a rookie singles player!
Dan started playing competitive tennis at age 11 and played in numerous USTA tournaments in the Midwestern section growing up. He was a two time member of both the OVTA (Ohio Valley Tennis Association) junior Davis Cup Team, and the Midwest Zonal Team. He was also a three time state qualifier (singles in Ohio Division 1) and numerous first team all city selection (Cincinnati). After high school, Dan took a nine year break from tennis, but started playing again after seeing an advertisement for Gladiator tennis. Obviously, he hasn’t lost much! “The Gladiator league provides an excellent opportunity for me to continue playing, and allows great flexibility when scheduling matches. I look forward to a high level of competition again next year.”
Curt played competitive tennis in Jr. High and High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and has played casually since then. A fan of racquet sports, Curt is active in racquetball during the winter months. “The Gladiator format provides an opportune way to meet others in the vicinity who are interested in competitive singles. It has been a pleasure to meet so many new tennis players this summer. I look forward to the next season!”
Tennis runs in Christie’s family. Her mother and father both play, and they started Christie and her sister in lessons when Christie was 8. Christie played tournaments through grade school and then played on her junior & senior high school teams in West Virginia. Then after high school Christie stopped playing for ten years. She picked it back up after moving to Florida and now enjoys playing 2 to 3 times per week. Christie plays indoors at the Naperville Tennis Club and then on outdoor summer teams also. Christie says, “The best part of my tennis history is that I have met so many terrific friends!”
Before John was taller than his racquet, he was hitting tennis balls. John played quite a bit as a kid and dreamed of attending Bolleteri Tennis Academy in high school. As he approached his high school years, his friends who used to play with him now had regular coaches they trained with. John’s folks didn’t have the extra income to support his tennis dreams and his friends who he used to beat were now beating him. From that point, John became really frustrated and didn’t pick up a racquet again but for a few times over the next 15 years. It was during the summer of 2008 that John’s wife encouraged him to start playing again because she noticed that he was “getting a little round” for the first time in his life! :-) So they went on eBay and picked up one of those Lobster ball machines and John started playing daily again. “I am far from being back into the kind of tennis shape I was once in, but I have absolutely loved being back in the game. Gladiator tennis was a great outlet for me to meet a bunch of new guys who I plan on continuing to play with. The league was very well organized and it did a lot to help me return to the sport. I didn’t know of anything else like it and I look forward to returning next year and making some more tennis friends!!!”
Karen has been playing tennis on and off since moving to Atlanta in the early 90’s. She had only played doubles up until this year, but immediately found success playing singles in Gladiator Tennis. “This was my “come back” after having not played in about 5 years. I truly enjoyed the Gladiator league and was a little concerned when I figured out I had signed up for singles, but it was a great experience and I’m looking forward to the next season!
Kevin enjoyed watching tennis from a young age, but only started playing socially at around 14 years old. While in college in South Africa, Kevin continued to enjoy playing whenever he got the opportunity. When Kevin arrived in the US 8 years ago, he became obsessed with golf and forgot about tennis, playing very little. However the company he worked for had a lot of tennis enthusiasts and they used to get together twice a week to play. Kevin eventually joined and that revived the tennis bug inside him again. After relocating to Illinois in 2007, Kevin looked for a league to play in without success, so he played with a friend on a regular basis. “One day I saw the Gladiator league flyer and decided to act on it. It is the best thing I could have done. This league provides the perfect balance between good competition and flexibility of playing matches according to your own schedule. I look forward to many seasons as a “gladiator””.
Carrie started taking tennis lessons when she was 5 years old but by the time she was 8 decided she preferred soccer and wanted to devote as much time as possible learning and playing the game. She played Club soccer through her high school years and also captained Naperville North’s team her senior year. She then went to Miami of Ohio and played one year of Division I soccer, with the team winning the MAC conference. After graduating from college and working for two years, Carrie decided to pursue a law degree and is currently attending John Marshall. Carrie quickly realized she needed an outlet from the rigors of law school and decided that tennis would be the ideal way to physically and mentally challenge herself. Under the coaching of Leandro Martins at the Wheaton Sports Center, Carrie quickly built upon the fundamentals she learned as a youngster and has found that her soccer skills and her intense competitive spirit have transferred nicely into re-building her tennis game. Carrie found Gladiator Tennis to be a great way to improve her game and meet more tennis players at her level. She continues to work hard to take her game to the next level and she considers her success this summer in Gladiator tennis as further motivation.
Mike is originally from Lima, Peru and moved here with his family back in the 80’s. He picked up his first racket when he was 18, looking to try out another sport besides soccer. Mike has developed his game by watching professional tennis matches, and looking for opportunities to play against better competition. “I’ve always thought of myself as a 3.5 player. But playing in the 3.0 level has taught me that the competition is tough and no matter how good you think you are, there is always someone better than you at any level. I’m very proud of winning the championship in the 3.0 level and look forward to playing 3.5 level tennis next year and hopefully repeat my accomplishments.”to returning next year and making some more tennis friends!!!”
