ZEPHYRHILLS Less than half a decade after the Sarah Vande Berg Tennis and Wellness Center opened on the western edge of Zephyrhills, the facility is set to become one of the epicenters for sports training.
Patrick Mouratoglou, coach of four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka and former coach of women's tennis legend Serena Williams, will launch his latest academy at the Zephyrhills facility.
The Mouratoglou Academy Zephyrhills joins other similar academies in France, Atlanta and Malaysia, although this will be the first with a full tennis and boarding program on American soil. The Vande Berg name will remain associated with the facility, which will house the statue of Sarah Vande Berg, a former Zephyrhills High tennis star who died in a car accident in 2015.
“I have always had a vision to expand Mouratoglou into the United States, and when we discovered the (Vande Berg) center in Zephyrhills, I knew this was the perfect opportunity to bring this dream to life,” Mouratoglou said in a press release .
The potential to establish our first American academy here was clear from the start. This facility is designed not only to welcome dedicated players from Florida, but also to attract talent from around the world through on-site boarding.
The academy will have a boarding facility for 90 students, who will follow a U.S. curriculum designed for both local and international participants, according to the press release. Each student-athlete is fully immersed in the Mouratoglou Methodology, a philosophy to provide personalized, tailor-made training that accelerates the growth of each player.
The facility features nine clay courts, including a stadium field with seating for up to 3,000 fans, and two hard courts. A further five outdoor hard courts and one indoor, air-conditioned court will open next summer.
Mouratoglous students have collected 10 Grand Slam titles, 39 singles crowns and two Olympic medals. He has won four Coach of the Year awards, with more than 40 players reaching the top 100 under his leadership.
There is a real atmosphere in this academy that fits perfectly with Mouratoglou's team spirit, Mouratoglou said.
The fact that the city and the region are so motivated and so committed and encouraging this project is also a key element in the whole idea of setting up my first American tennis academy there.
With a tennis and school program that focuses on both academic and athletic development, and a board experience similar to our flagship in France, my goal is for Zephyrhills to become a world-class tennis destination, as we have achieved in France.
