By Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
Teaching pros in tennis have a lot on the line with hiring their staff of assistant pros for seasonal or permanent positions at clubs around the world. Their hires are a reflection on them and they must be able to produce and entertain for the club and its membership.
Imagine that you are Jack Waite, the Director of Racquet Sports at the Burning Tree Country Club in Greenwich, Connecticut, and you are not sure about hiring a seemingly shy and quiet 18-year-old from India as one of your first hires in a new high-profile position.
Fast-forward eight years and this hire not only becomes a vastly popular and hard-working assistant, but goes on to qualify to play singles in the main draw of the U.S. Open!
Speaking after his former assistant pro Saketh Myneni of India won his final-round qualifying match at the U.S. Open to make his Grand Slam tournament debut, Waite spoke about the doubts he had about hiring the Indian tennis player who was a freshman at the University of Alabama. It was while Waite was at a Professional Tennis Registry (PTR) coaching certification workshop in Tuscaloosa, Alabama to certify the Crimson Tide team when he first met “Saki.”
“I was doing a PTR workshop to certify their team and he went through it,” said Waite. “He didn’t really impress me. He was kind of quiet. The coach, Billy Pate, called me afterwards, and he said, ‘Hey, Saki is looking for a summer job.’ It was my first year at the club and I knew we had to do a great job. I said, ‘How’s his personality, because he seems kind of quiet?’ Billy said, ‘Don’t worry. He’s the most out-going and congenial guy.’”
Waite said he trusted what Pate told him and it turned into one of the best decisions he had made in his position with the club. Saki instantly showed the true colors of his vibrant, engaging and gentlemanly personality, becoming an instant hit among the members, while working long and intense hours.
“We called him ‘24-7 Saki’ because he worked from seven in the morning until eight or nine at night,” Waite said. “Everybody wanted to take lessons with him. He was always on. Just always treated everybody great. Everybody loved him. Such a nice guy. Such a genuine guy. He left a real mark.”
Said Saki of his time at Burning Tree following his post-match interview as seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvV0h-dFBew “It was one of the best experiences I have had. I got to learn a lot about myself in general, not about just tennis, but overall in life. I have complete encouragement from the club. Burning Tree has done an outstanding job for me over the last four or five years. They are good family.”
After four years at the University of Alabama – and four summers at Burning Tree – Saki decided to turn professional, which is a financially daunting decision with the large expenses for travel and coaching needed to sustain a living of entry-level professional tennis. The members of Burning Tree showed their appreciation for Saki and held a end-of-the-summer going-away party that also served as a fundraiser to kick-start his pro tennis career.
“We raised some money for him to get started on the tour and we’ve been following him ever since,” said Waite.
Once atop 50–ranked ATP World Tour doubles player in the 1990s, Waite said he was not sure he saw that his one-time assistant teaching pro had it in him to make it on the pro tour, let alone make it into the field of a Grand Slam tournament.
“I was out of it for a little while by that time, so everything’s changed a lot, so I relied a little bit more on my friends who did it, who also knew him and obviously knew he was good,” said Waite. “I know there’s so many factors and variables, how much you’re willing to go through the wall, but I had a lot of people who told me he’s got top-200 talent if he can stay healthy. Obviously, he’s exceeded that. I knew there was a chance, but there’s so many hurdles to go over, you never really know for sure until someone can do it.”
What might be even more incredible is the fact that Saki didn’t start to play tennis until he was 12 years old. His natural talent towards tennis brought him to play Division I college tennis within about six years.
“He’s an unbelievable story,” said Waite. “He caught somebody’s eye, I’m not even sure how Billy Pate caught his eye, but he caught somebody’s eye at Alabama. He just kept progressing. He’s got such an interesting game. He’s more of an artist out there. You look at him and think he’s just going to hit hard and bang the ball around, but he has a lot of speeds. He changes pace. He’s a bit of a throw-back the way he does that. Then all of a sudden, he can boom, hit a ‘Saki-bomb.’”
Saki first earned an ATP World Tour ranking in the fall of 2011 and slowly moved into the top 300 in 2013. He earned a spot on India’s Davis Cup team in 2014 and a year later, first cracked the top 200. He had yet to make it on the Grand Slam tournament level and nearly broke through at the 2016 Australian Open, but lost a heartbreaking match in the final-round of qualifying, losing to Mirza Basic of Bosnia 3-6, 6-4, 8-6. His ranking upon breaking through to reach the main draw of the 2016 U.S. Open stood at No. 143, five spots off his career-high of No. 138.
Watch Saki thank his supporters from Burning Tree after qualifying for the 2016 US Open here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzE1icVX8Nk
Randy Walker is the author of the book, ebook, audio book and mobile app “This Day In Tennis History” (www.TennisHistoryApp.com) and can be reached at Rwalker@NewChapterMedia.com
