SCC Tennis Academy

from The Padang Magazine - January/February 2022

Hockey 44

We have had an exciting year with many new faces from all the other Sections at the Club taking an interest in tennis, and it's been amazing to see everyone enjoy the sport so much. Our coaching team has been working around the clock to make sure the ice hockey slap shots turn into pinpoint topspin. We want to thank coach Michel Van De Sanden for his commitment, sometimes doing 5+ straight hours on the hard courts getting all of you ready for the next interclub Singles League at the start of 2022.

From top right corner, clockwise: Coach Michel; Coach Jerome; Coach Christo.

New Tennis Academy Coach - Agustin Velotti

With the opening of Doubles for Adults and Kids Groups, we are thrilled to welcome Agustin Velotti and Amar Saletovic, who will be helping to guide the academy to new levels in 2022. A quick search of Agustin Velotti will reveal his career as a tennis professional that included winning the French Open Boys to representing Argentina in the South American games and winning a Silver Medal. Agustin also held a highest ranking of 160 in the world and played Grand Slam tennis.

“I left home when I was 18 years old; I lived in a small town in the north of Arhentina and I went to live in Buenos Aires to form a better team,” Agustin started explaining when we asked him how and where he got started in tennis. “That year I won the Junior Roland Garros (French Open), the most important tournament of my career. I actually did not want to go to the tournament; I had arrived in a very bad moment of tennis and I was forced to play for my sponsors. I had been losing the previous tournaments in the first round, I felt that even the ball boys could beat me!” However, things took a turn for the better for him: “I took the pressure off of wanting to win the tournament and ended up playing a great tournament. That week I had many cabal; I played the entire tournament with the same shirt and shorts, and I felt that I was winning because of that, so every night I washed my clothes by hand and the next day I played with exactly the same clothes. I can say that I became champion the JuniorRoland Garros champion with only one shirt and one pair of shorts!” Agustin is currently the only player in Singapore with a ranking inside the top 500 on the ATP tour, and we look forward to his skills and experience inspiring the junior and senior team players at SCC.