Nicolai Schwarzkopf: Exploring the city through his love of tennis.

Hi I'm Nicolai Schwarzkopf. I'm a 28-year-old real estate developer from Atlanta. Since moving to New York in January, I have attacked the TennisNewYork.com (Manhattan / Brooklyn Tennis League) circuit hard, winning two championships in the summer league and the July tournament. I moved up from "Competitive 3.5" to "Advanced 4.0", and I have my sights set on "Elite". Then maybe Wimbledon, who knows...

I admit, I'm a little obsessed with tennis right now. Most weeks, my happiness revolves around tennis. I love playing around the city, from Central Park, to Queens, to along the Hudson river. The setting is always amazing and it gives me a special way to explore the city, as I ride my bike to and from matches. My grandparents introduced me to tennis at a young age. I enjoyed it, but I was more suited for football, which I played from middle school through college. Once football was over, tennis became my competitive outlet. I traded hitting other players for hitting a serve as hard as I can, then rushing the net and using my height to my advantage as I try to slam a winner. My style may not be as pretty as Federer's, but it's worked for me so far.

Which league are you a member of? 

Advanced 4.0, TennisNewYork.com

How long have you participated in your league?

I started with the summer season this year

How often do you play?

I try to play 2-3 times a week at least

What do you like most about the league?

I like the flexibility of playing whenever possible. It is usually easy to schedule a match if you send a mass email a day or two in advance.

Tell us about your most memorable match(es).

So far, it has to be winning the July Tourney against Shantanu Godbole. Shantanu is a really good player but for some reason, I hit every shot the way I wanted to that day, and I won pretty easily. I just felt "on" that day! And got a pretty sweet trophy as a result.

Who are your favorite rivals in the league? Why?

I wouldn't say I've played anyone enough times to warrant a rivalry. But the first time I played Harry Richardson, he beat me, and it disappointed me because I thought I should have played better. So when I played Harry again in the Summer Competitive playoffs quarterfinals, I was excited to get a chance at redemption - we played 3 sets and I barely won, but it was a great feeling.

Do you have any other interesting comments about your experiences with the league?

Would be nice to have more tournaments or possibly weekend round robins. I'm all about competition, although it's nice to play some "regular season" matches too.

How did you get started playing tennis?

My grandparents played, and I would go to tennis camps during the summers when I visited them in Savannah. So I learned the fundamentals growing up, then I stopped playing for about 10 years while I focused on football (which I played from middle school through college)

10. What level player are you? (NTRP rating)

4.0 (3.5 on a bad day, 4.5 on a good day)

What do you love about tennis?  

• Good exercise,
• Fun to play
• Combination of mental and physical challenge
• Tennis culture (the pro players, tournaments, history, venues)

Who are your favorite pro players? Why?

Probably Federer, even though my style is nothing like his. I wish it was, because he makes the game look beautiful.

Tom Trotter: Growing the sport through love of the game

Tom Trotter is probably one of the most passionate and hardest promoting players in all of Tennis League Network.  We absolutely love his dedication to the game and helping us try to grow the program.


Which league are you a member of?

Tennis Fort Lauderdale

How long have you participated in your league?

Since around March 2012.  5.5 years.

How did you first learn about it?

From a flyer posted on my local tennis courts.

How often do you play?

Usually 3 days per week.

What do you like most about the league?

The league makes it easy to meet new tennis opponents.  The flexibility of scheduling and playing matches. The generally high quality people one meets and interacts with through the league.  The online record keeping. The End Of Year National (now the East Coast) tournament at the Crandon Park Tennis Center on Key Biscayne in Miami.

Tell us about your most memorable match(es)

They're all memorable in some way.

Who are your favorite rivals in the league? Why?

I like playing people who are generally better players than me but who I'm competitive with. I usually learn the most from these sorts of matches.

Do you have any other interesting comments about your experiences with the league?

The league has been a continual source of new friends and valued acquaintances. It's one of the most important components of my lifestyle, which keeps me engaged, and active, and about as fit and healthy as I can expect to be at my age. It keeps my spirits up.

How did you get started playing tennis?

I played almost every day for about a year when I was in my late 20s.  Then picked it back up again when I moved to Fort Lauderdale in 2009.  I was just hitting against a practice wall a couple of times a month when, one day in March 2012, I noticed the flyer advertising the Tennis Fort Lauderdale affiliate of the Tennis League Network.

What level player are you? (NTRP rating)

I'm a 3.0.  But I feel that I'm on the cusp of transitioning into a solid 3.5.  (Though I might have to go bionic to achieve that.)

What do you love about tennis?

The skill involved in hitting the ball well, consistently.  The generally high quality people one meets through tennis. The fact that it's regularly televised and very popular throughout the world.  It keeps me regular.  It complements my artistic endeavors.

 

Who are your favorite pro players? Why?

Ken Rosewall, because of his super solid style of play, and the fact that he was a top world class player for almost 25 years in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, and John McEnroe for their styles of play. And, of course, Roger Federer.

Tell us a little bit about yourself, for example: What do you do? Where did you grow up? What are your hobbies (besides tennis)? Feel free to share any interesting details about your life.

I'm retired.  Was born and raised in the Cincinnati area.  My other hobbies are composing music on piano

and electronic keyboards, and painting (acrylics and watercolors). 

Music:

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheMg49

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=221726&content=music

Music and Art:

https://soundcloud.com/thomas-trotter

Art and Music on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/thomas.trotter.359

Floyd has Aced TennisHamptonRoads.com

Floyd Pettaway absolutely enjoyed the new 2017 franchise TennisHamptonRoads.com which services Norfolk and Virginia Beach VA. In the Summer Season he played an amazing 31 matches which was nearly 1/3 of the matches by himself.

He has stated about his experience: It's FANTASTIC compared to the other ladder league we've used in this area. 

They did not have an app at all, it was very basic/primitive and you could only use a web version on your phone.

I've really enjoyed this League, the App and the Match Play.

I'm looking forward to continuing with this league and trying to get others to join in this area.

There are a lot of people who may benefit from the flexibility of the league and they may enjoy the incentives, the matches and the 

possibility of the year end tournament. 

Questions we asked him:

1. Which league are you a member of?

Hampton Roads Tennis League

2. How long have you participated in your league?

I started TLN on June 13th and played my 1st match on June 15th.

3. How did you first learn about it?

I got an email about the TLN from on of the local guys that's all about Tennis in Hampton Roads.

4. How often do you play?

I play 3 to 4 times a week right now.

5. What do you like most about the league?

The "FLEXIBILITY" being able to have a list of guys you can text when you want to play and you can play when it's convenient for both players.

6. How did you get started playing tennis?

I started playing tennis at a Church Picnic in 2003 when I decided to retire from Adult Basketball Leagues.

7. What do you love about tennis?  

I Love that Tennis is a sport that you can continue to play as you mature.

As told by Adam Cooper: Ups and Downs at a Local ATP 500 Tourney

Adam Cooper has been playing in TennisDC.com since June 2011 racking up a 162-83 record while playing in the top division. This is his comments about the Citi Open.

I made my annual pilgrimage to the Citi Open in DC this past week.  The tournament has been around for decades: when I was in High School I saw the likes of Michael Chang and Andre Agassi (with long hair) duel it out here.  The facility, like many used for professional events, is open to the public the rest of the year, and I've played on these courts from time to time.  The rest of the year the place looks a bit rusty and worn-down, but it gets all dolled up for this smallish tournament every late July when the ATP comes to town.  DC is always oppressively hot then, with daytime highs in the 90s and plenty of humidity.  I remember one muggy match between Stefan Edberg and Patrick Rafter where both players keeled over in heat exhaustion after the last point (Edberg won).  For the last few years the facility has also hosted a smaller WTA International Event simultaneously, so there's plenty of men's and women's matches to see.  This year some of the key players in the men's draw were Dominic Thiem, Juan Martin del Potro, Milos Raonic, and Gael Monfils; for the women we had Simona Halep, Eugenie Bouchard, and Kristina Mladenovic.  

It's always fun to stroll through the pleasant bustle of fans, each slurping $10 beer, $8 hot dogs, or $5 popsicles.  It's crowded but not overwhelming: DC is not a sports-crazy town.  Politics is the big game here.  I make sure to visit the serve speed booth, where you can wait in line to give your own serve a whack and see what you register on the radar gun (I managed an underwhelming 83MPH, and later noticed a scrawny teenager had hit 114MPH... always good for my confidence).  You can often catch a few pros out on the practice courts if you get there early.  Seeing them up close you're struck by just how consistent the strokes they produce are, getting the same basic solid shot from any kind of ball fed to them (slice, topspin, short, deep, etc.).  You also notice just how TALL all the players are now.  Six feet is just a starting point for these bronzed, lanky athletes.

I stayed for the evening matches, eager to catch a glimpse of Dominic Thiem's backhand, but the weather had other plans as a massive summer thunderstorm broke right over Rock Creek Park.  Fans were sent scurrying like rats for the few flimsy tents that were set up, or else huddled under the bleachers.  I was hoping it would be a passing storm that would just delay things but the sheets of rain kept falling for over an hour.  After the clouds finally moved on, the ground crews leapt into action, drying the courts with rollers, blowers, and even on their hands and knees with towels.  I watched this excruciating 40-minute low-tech process for a while wondering if there wasn't a better way... roof, anyone?  The match was set to finally get going, but then, dishearteningly, a few more drops started to fall.  Tennis, especially on hard courts, is kind of unique as a sport in just being completely intolerant of rain.  It messes with strings, balls, and--most importantly--brings the risk of slipping and falling hard on concrete.  By this time it was almost 9PM and I gave up and headed home.  They were able to get the matches in after the second shower: the final ball was struck around 1:45AM, but I was in bed long before then.