Top Spanish coach to visit university

Highly-respected tennis coach and former player José Higeruas will lend his coaching expertise to the next generation of British tennis stars when he visits Stirling University next month.

José, former coach to Roger Federer, will spend a week working with the best young players at the university-based GB National Tennis Academy before sharing his coaching philosophy at the annual Tennis Scotland Coaches’ Conference being held at Gleneagles.

The ground-breaking academy is one of two set up by the LTA and opened its doors to eight of the country’s most promising talents in September 2019 as part of the first-year intake. Students are housed at Dollar Academy and receive expert tennis tuition from a world-class coaching team led by Leo Azevedo (head coach), Colin Fleming, Bruno Argudo and Esteban Carril.

José won 16 ATP singles titles as a player and reached back-to-back semi-finals at Roland Garros in 1982 and 1983, the year in which he reached No. 6 in the world rankings. Hwe was also a Spanish Davis Cup player.

He has since gone on to coach some of the world’s best tennis players, including Roger Federer and Pete Sampras and was recruited as the United States Tennis Association’s director of coaching 2008 where he now acts as a consultant.

He said: “Leo Azevedo is a great friend of mine and I have a lot of respect for him as a coach so when he asked me to visit the GB National Tennis Academy I didn’t give it a second thought. As well as a great friendship, I share with Leo the same personal and tennis values which was why I previously chose Leo to work with us at the USTA.

“I have always been in love with Scotland and its beautiful landscapes and I have always enjoyed the British tennis culture and tradition when visiting Wimbledon, both as a player and as a coach. I am aware of the very positive momentum and growth that tennis in Scotland is experiencing now and I’m therefore very much looking forward to my trip.”

GB National Tennis Academy head coach Leo Azevado added: “One of the highlights of my career was working with José for eight years. He is one of the most knowledgeable minds in the sport and an even better person.

“I’m delighted to have the opportunity to welcome him to Scotland at the GB National Tennis Academy and at the coaches’ conference. This is a priceless opportunity for Scottish tennis and everyone involved.”

This year’s Tennis Scotland Coaches’ Conference will provide coaches at all levels of the game with two days of toplevel coaching insight at the Gleneagles Arena on February 15 and 16.

José will be joined by a range of expert speakers with more than 100 coaches expected to attend.