In Tennis And Business – You Must Sweat It Out

By Rocky Stephens

John takes time out for
a business call.

BOCA RATON, FLORIDA – World famous tennis professional John Evert loves the game of tennis, it is how he makes his living. His heart and his business interest, however, is in the development of young talent.

Southern Business Magazine had the opportunity to visit with Chris Evert and her brother John at the impressive Evert Tennis Academy located in the enticing southern part of the sunshine state. The Evert Tennis Academy, a division of IMG Academies, features 23 tennis courts, including 14 clay courts and 19 hard courts, with courts lighted for night play. The Evert Tennis Academy is a year round facility and offers full-time (semester) and short-term (weekly) residency training programs.

Chris Evert, one of the true champions of the game, now enjoys passing on her knowledge and experience of winning 18 Grande Slam titles to the next generation of players. During my conversation with Chris, she told me of how she had been approached for many years to help form a tennis camp. “I would not ever consider such an undertaking without involving John - he is the one with the business mind.” Chris continues to play and trains new talent. However, “I leave all the business matters to John.” Chris explains, “I enjoy teaching the kids and seeing them develop as tennis players.” Chris plays tennis whenever and as often as she can. However, now her interests are in training and educating the champions of tomorrow. As I observed Chris and John on the court training young players, it was clear to me that they both have a true passion for their hands-on approach to training and educating that is a commitment to building excellent athletes and students.

John Evert, Founder and Executive Director of The Evert Tennis Academy, graduated from one of the south’s best, Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. John chose Economics as his major while he captained the varsity tennis team as a Commodore. John has been involved with the development of players from junior championships to ATP and WTA touring pros for 20 years. For 10 years, John was Vice-President of IMG Racquet Sports Division and was one of the first members of the elite USA Tennis High Performance Coaching Program. John coached and managed players such as Andy Roddick, Jennifer Capriati and Mary Fernandez.

Brother and sister coaching young talent.

To reduce sweat in the business, John admits he made an excellent decision to partner with two of the best in the tennis business. The Evert Academy partnered with IMG and the USTA, two of the most influential organizations in the world of tennis. IMG is the world’s premier and most diversified sports marketing firm and the USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the U.S. and the leader in promoting and developing the growth of tennis at every level. “The best business decision I made was to partner with IMG Academies from the beginning back in 1999, and now to form our alliance with the USTA.” As John explained the new alliance between The Evert Tennis Academy and the USTA, he expressed much enthusiasm, “The fact that the USTA has chosen the Evert Tennis Academy as it’s new Player Development National Headquarters is simply excellent.”

The USTA will be moving it’s current Player Development National Headquarters from Key Biscayne, Florida to The Evert Tennis Academy in September of this year. The USTA will be providing year-round housing for the top players for the first time, launching a new era in the program’s goal to develop the next generation of American tennis champions. Working with the USTA, The Evert Tennis Academy is constructing a new $3.5 million on-site facility

Evert Tennis Academy

that will serve as the national headquarters for the USTA player development. The new facility, to include dorm-style living quarters, state-of-the-art fitness center, full training facility, and access to 23 tennis courts on multiple surfaces, is to be completed in September.

I asked John, “what could be more fun than earning a living hitting tennis balls?” “Not much,” he said, “but don’t get the wrong impression. Teaching tennis, at least doing it well, requires a lot of sweat and is much more than you think. However, I can’t see myself doing anything else for a living. I try to teach life lessons through tennis,” explained the 46 year-old. “ I love giving back to the kids I coach. I love making a difference in their lives.”

Perhaps the most important thing John can do is to give back to the game that his father, Jimmy Evert loves so much. “I rely on my father, I always have. Even today, when I am faced with an important business decision, I talk with my father, he has always made good decisions. But as rewarding as being in the tennis business is, some aspects of the job are not so glamorous. But it doesn’t bother me because I love giving back to the kids.”

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