Club Times: November/December 2023

tennis

event: our LTA Member/Guest. The event sold out in less than 8 minutes! 140 members and guests participated in the two-day event. The fun player outfits are always a special part of the event. This year our charity was “Happy Tails” and the generosity of our ALTA teams, with their donation of baskets, raised a record $7,000. A special thank you goes out to the member/guest committee comprised of members Lisa Mannion, Shannon Collins, Julie Wright, Katherine Malone, and Lori Morlan. Also, events like this can never happen without your AAC team members, Ileana Jennings, Klaudia Cancino and the tennis professionals. To celebrate our 125th anniversary, we introduced a new event to our supportive membership. The Jai Alai Tennis event to support our

Junior Tennis Program was new to the membership, but it did not take much time for the members to get into the fun of the event. Our AAC professionals, Enock Godi and Patrick Aubone, along with members Randy Moore, Martin Strickler and area tennis professionals competed in kicking off the Labor Day weekend. Players were teamed up while members participated in betting on teams with their “AAC Tennis Bucks.” The players changed partners after each game and the betting continued. We look forward to retaining this event on the schedule for spring of 2024, so look for more information in the next Club Times. tHANKSGIVING & HOLIDAY TENNIS CAMPS ARE BACK! These tennis camps have been very popular year after year. We love using our indoor courts to keep our members playing, especially since there is a league break and many times, it doesn’t feel like tennis weather. We will do stroke production, cardio tennis games, play live ball games focusing on doubles plays and do match play whenever possible at the end of every camp. These camps are a blast and will fill up very quickly so please make sure you reserve your spot ASAP! We look forward to seeing you on the courts! Thanksgiving DAY Camp Dates: November 21 and November 22 9:30-11:30 am | Cost: $50 per day Thanksgiving NIGHT Camp Date: November 21 6:30-8:00 pm | Cost $37 per day Holiday DAY Camp Dates: December 19, December 20 and December 21 9:30-11:30 am | Cost: $50 per day Holiday NIGHT Camp Date: December 19 6:30-8:00 pm | Cost $37 per day

Recap LTA Member/Guest and Jai Alai Events The Tennis Center was buzzing with popular events in August and September. We began the start of the fall season with our most popular History of Great Tennis at the AAC Starting in 1992 the club began hosting an ATP tour event called the AT&T Challenge. This clay court event was hosted at the AAC until 2001. It became a major stop on the ATP Tour as many of the top players competed in the event. It was during this time the stadium court was built. Having the beautiful Atlanta weather in April was a big influence on its success. It was a great way for the community to get out of the winter months, enjoy cool, crisp days and evenings and watch some great tennis. The event hosted up to 7,000 tennis enthusiasts each day during the first several years of the event. The AAC had the perfect facilities for a successful event. When corporate sponsorship began to diminish the event was sold and moved to South America. See list of Champions: 1992 – Andre Agassi, 1993-Jacco Eltingh, 1994 & 1995-Michael Chang, 1996-Karim Alami, 1997-Marcelo Filippini, 1998-Pete Sampras, 1999-Stefan Koubek, 2000-Andrew Ilie, 2001-Andy Roddick

Well known players that also competed over the years include Ivan Lendl, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Yannick Noah, and Todd Martin. The Tennis Center is closing for maintenance December 24- January 1. There will be deep cleaning of several areas, paint touch up, and lifecycle maintenance. We have found that this time of the year is the perfect time to have these issues addressed as it has traditionally been our slowest time of the year. Lastly, I want to thank the membership for their support of the Northside Hospital TABC events during the two Fridays in October, along with the Wesleyan Hit & Howl event on the first Friday in November. These three events have been hosted by the AAC for the past 15 years and are always well received. We will also be hosting the USPTA Georgia Winter Workshop on Friday, December 1 st . The workshop will give our professionals the opportunity to gain points for our continuing education through the USPTA and PTR. Thank you for