Doug and Ken actually were roommates and doubles partners first, before Ken and I became partners. We were a close knit team. I have fond memories of taking van trips to play matches against other universities, all over the United States. In my second year at SIUE we had a lot of success beating a number of top ranked colleges including the number one ranked team at the time. I remember one spring break, it must have been five of us piled into Ken Flach’s car and drove from Illinois to Florida to stay with my family. We had so much fun traveling as a team.

One important thing to know is that we can compare this period to an injury, or even a rehabilitation condition. Several professional players, notably Rafael Nadal, have had to go through difficult periods and prolonged absences from competition to recover from an injury. Examples can also be found among young athletes: Bianca Andreescu (foot stress fracture) or Felix Auger-Aliassime (knee injury) had to be sidelined for a few months during their adolescence. These moments of adversity did not prevent them from obtaining exceptional results upon their return to the court.

Many are asking this question, each with their own opinion, their own truth. In reality, it is difficult to answer with certainty, as the evaluation method can vary from one person to another. However, when you think about it, when you look at the references in the field of coaching in various sports, there are certain common and fundamental elements that I will describe to you here…

“I would then pass skipping ropes out to serve as the top of the net, put a few rackets on the ground to create some lines, and start hitting with large groups of kids who we handed rackets to and supplied balls. The bounces were very uneven on the field, but this led to the kids developing coordination and reflex skills at a high level. Many kids on my court had t-shirts saying “Stop War Start Tennis” and given the history of Uganda and the region, it was clear that tennis has the potential to be an instrument of peace…”