Meet the 2020 New York Tennis Expo Panelists
Both panels will be headlined by legendary tennis coach Nick Bollettieri, founder of IMG Academy. Former World No. 8 Jack Sock will be on the panel in the morning session, while 2019 New York Open finalist Brayden Schnur will participate in the afternoon session.
Below is the list of panelists. Visit 2020NYTennisExpo.EventBrite.com to preregister for free!
Nick Bollettieri is considered by many to be one of the best tennis coaches of all time. He helped shape the careers of Andre Agassi, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Jim Courier, Boris Becker, Monica Seles, Anna Kournikova, Tommy Haas, and many other global tennis champions. In 1978, he founded the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy—now IMG Academy, the first full-time tennis boarding school that provides young athletes with an opportunity to train at the highest level while also pursuing their academic aspirations. IMG also focuses on total athletic development, including strength and conditioning, leadership training, mental toughness sessions, more, as well as high level competition among some of the most talented players in the world.
Brayden Schnur is a professional tennis player and former star at the University of North Carolina. In Chapel Hill, Schnur was a three-time All-American before turning pro in 2016. He has reached the finals of four ATP Challenger Tour tournaments, and has won 5 Futures titles. He had the best year of his career on the ATP Tour in 2019, which began with his run through qualifying and an appearance in the New York Open final, and saw him make his Grand Slam main draw debut at Wimbledon.
Jack Sock is an American professional tennis player, who has been ranked as high as eighth in singles and second in doubles. A native of Lincoln, Nebraska, Sock turned pro in 2011 and has won four ATP singles titles. He has advanced as far as the fourth round in singles at both the French and US Opens, and has become one of the top doubles players in the world, winning four Grand Slam titles and a Gold Medal at the 2016 Olympics.
Hannah Berner is a former professional and collegiate tennis player turned content creator, video producer, podcast host and newest cast member of Bravo’s hit series “Summer House,” now in its third season. She was born in Brooklyn, New York and played competitive tennis for the University of Wisconsin. She has emerged on the comedy scene by directing, editing and acting in videos on Instagram and writing viral tweets. This past November Hannah launched her podcast “Berning in Hell” where she interviews her guests about their deepest insecurities, anxieties and fears.
Julia Elbaba, a native of Oyster Bay, New York, is currently a professional tennis player. As a five-time All-American at the University of Virginia, she was the first person in program history to rank No. 1 in singles nationally in Division I tennis. In 2014, she became a National Champion when winning the ITA National Indoor Collegiate Championships in New York. She represented the United States at the 2014 Master’U BNP Paribas in Aix-en-Provence and was undefeated in singles and doubles, and took home the gold medal for USA.
Steve Kaplan is the owner and managing director of Bethpage Park Tennis Center, as well as director emeritus of Lacoste Academy for New York City Parks Foundation, and executive director and founder of Serve & Return Inc. Steve has coached more than 1,100 nationally-ranked junior players, 16 New York State high school champions, two NCAA Division 1 Singles Champions, and numerous highly-ranked touring professionals. Many of the students Steve has closely mentored have gone to achieve great success as prominent members of the New York financial community, and in other prestigious professions. In 2017, Steve was awarded the Hy Zausner Lifetime Achievement Award by the USTA.
Gilad Bloom, a former Israeli Davis Cup player and two-time Olympian, played on the ATP Tour from 1983-1995, reached the fourth round of the U.S. Open in 1990, reached a highest ranking of 61 in singles, was Israel Singles Champion three times. Bloom has been running his own tennis program since 2000 and also was director of tennis at John McEnroe Tennis Academy for two years.
Jay Harris is the Co-General Manger/Director of Tennis at SPORTIME Roslyn and the Director of John McEnroe Tennis Academy’s College Recruiting Combine. He was the Head Men’s Tennis Coach at Brown University for eight years, before joining the SPORTIME team in 2010. He led the program to two Ivy League titles and seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances, and two of his Brown University players later advanced to the Quarterfinals of Wimbledon. Prior to Brown, Harris coached at Bowling Green University where he led the team to two Mid-American Conference titles. He played collegiate tennis at the University of Cincinnati, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. He was recently named USTA Eastern's Tennis Professional of the Year in 2019.
Dr. Tom Ferraro has been a psychoanalyst and sport psychologist in full time private practice and is a pioneer in the field of depth sport psychology. He practices out of Williston Park and has been affiliated with numerous professional organizations including the Women’s United Soccer Association, the New York Lizards, Tour Edge Golf Company and NYU Winthrop Hospital. He works with a variety of professional and elite athletes in the fields of tennis, golf soccer, lacrosse, figure skating, gymnastics, swimming, Taekwondo, fencing and more. In addition he is a syndicated columnist, an author and his work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The London Times and Golf Digest has said “Dr. Ferraro is one of the nation’s leading mental game gurus.” He has a newly published chapter in the book 'In Depth Sport Psychology' by Routledge in 2019 and will be appearing in an NBC Sports show leading up to the Tokyo Olympics.
Brian Coleman
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