Gigi Fernandez Hosts Tennis Open House At Chelsea Piers CT

Written by: Staff on 13th June 2012

Gigi Fernandez Hosts Tennis Open House At Chelsea Piers CT |

Chelsea Piers Connecticut (CPCT) has made several hires in the tennis department and is hosting a tennis open house on Saturday, June 16th, to introduce the Fairfield County tennis community to Director of Tennis, Gigi Fernandez, the Chelsea Piers Connecticut tennis staff, and tennis programming.

The information session on Saturday, June 16th, is geared toward both adults and juniors wanting to learn more about CPCT tennis programs. The Junior Information Session will be held at 1:00pm while the Adult Information Session will take place immediately after at 2:30pm. Along with meeting the Tennis Club’s top-notch staff, visitors will learn about programming options, including the Advanced Tennis High Performance Program, Squad Training, the Piers Program and 10 & Under Tennis. Fernandez will explain the club’s coaching philosophy and provide information about summer camps, private lessons, seasonal court rentals, the August Tournament Extravaganza, Social Winter Leagues, USTA programs and more. A Q&A session will also take place

“I am thrilled with the quality of coaches that we have brought aboard to run our adult and junior programs here at Chelsea Piers Connecticut,” commented Fernandez, who will also lead the High Performance coaching staff. “Our coaching staff is a mix of established area pros combined with experienced coaches who are new to the community. All of our coaches are USPTA or PTR certified, and many have specific certifications in High Performance, 10 and Under Tennis, Cardio Tennis and more. I look forward to building the most dominant and comprehensive tennis program in the area.”

Gigi Fernandez – Director of Tennis

Gigi Fernandez has been a dominant fixture in the tennis world since turning pro in 1983. During her 14-year WTA Tour career, Fernandez won seventeen Grand Slam doubles crowns, as well as two Olympic Gold Medals. Fernandez was Puerto Rico’s first professional female athlete and coach of the year in Puerto Rico in 2003. In 2000, Fernandez was named Puerto Rican Athlete of the Century.

Fernandez was ranked first or second in the world from April 1991, up to the time of her retirement in 1997. She is also a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Since retirement, Fernandez has coached the Puerto Rican National Team, along with serving as head coach at the University of South Florida in Tampa. She also coached tour pros Sam Stosur and Lisa Raymond to their first Grand Slam win in 2005.

Faycal Rhazali – Head Professional, Adult Development

Faycal Rhazali has been a top professional in Fairfield County for over 10 years and has extensive experience coaching adults and juniors. Rhazali is a USTA High Performance certified coach, as well as a Level 1 USPTA. He is also a Sports Science Level 1 and Quick Start certified coach.

Rhazali had a distinguished junior career in his native country of Morocco, receiving a tennis scholarship to play Division 1 tennis at Radford University. At Radford, Rhazali earned an NCAA Leadership Award in 1999, was a two-time team MVP and a member of the Big South’s All-Conference Team. After college, Rhazali played ITF and ATP satellite and challenger events throughout Europe before moving to the United States to pursue a coaching career. He has been recognized as one of the top 10 coaches in New England and is also a member of the New England Junior Development Committee Board of Directors.

Jenna Loeb – Club Professional

Jenna Loeb had a stellar junior career, where she was ranked #1 in the Eastern section for seven years. She was a top-five nationally ranked junior and played in the US Open Junior Championship. Loeb’s junior success earned her a full scholarship to Wake Forest, one of the top NCAA Division 1 tennis programs in the country. After graduating in 2008, Loeb received the UPSTA Level 1 certification, and she is also Level 1 Sports Science certified. Loeb has been coaching in the New York area for the past four years, most recently as the Head Professional at Armonk Indoor.

Roberto Bianco – Assistant Director of Tennis & Lead Professional

Roberto Bianco started playing tennis as youngster in his home country of South Africa. He excelled in the juniors, playing in many ITF Junior tournaments worldwide. In 2005, Bianco earned a full athletic scholarship to Fresno Pacific University, where he was named ITA Player-To-Watch and team MVP. After a successful college career, he traveled the world playing challenger and satellite tournaments.

Bianco started his coaching career at the legendary Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club, established in 1892 and home of the Australian Open for decades. Bianco has excelled at several local indoor clubs, coaching both juniors and adults. Most recently, he served as Director of Strength and Conditioning at Solaris Indoor Club, where he designed and directed the strength and conditioning program for the Junior High Performance squad. Bianco is a USPTR member, Level 1 Sports Science certified and USTA High Performance certified. In addition to his coaching duties, as Assistant Director, Bianco will work side-by-side with the Director of Tennis to design, create and implement programs at Chelsea Piers Connecticut.

Sasha Bluestone – Club Professional

Sasha Bluestone comes to Chelsea Piers from the New England Academy of Tennis in Natick, MA, where he has been working with the top New England juniors for the past seven years. Since the Academy’s inception, New England Academy players have secured over 500 tournament titles, 10 sectional championships, 8 national titles and 5 individual state high school championships.

Bluestone is a USPTA and PTR certified coach as well as a member of the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA). He ran women’s league team practices and 10 and Under programs at the New England Academy of Tennis. Bluestone also personally coached several players who continued on to play tennis in college, including three Boston Globe All-Scholastic High School players.

Topics: 10sballs.com, Chlsea Piers Connecticut, Gigi Fernandez, Sports, USPTA