One of our newest VIP signees is Randy de Guzman, a tennis coach who’s mentored hundreds of up-and-coming tennis players over the years.
Owner of DG Tennis based out of the DC area, Randy currently teaches at Yates at Georgetown and coaches students at Gonzaga High School. Prior to that, he had quite the storied career in and out of the United States, including in his home country of the Philippines. At one point, Randy was a member of the junior national team, ranking no. 1 in the country. After playing competitive D1 tennis in the US and rounding out his collegiate tenure at home, Randy came back to the US in 2006. His career has even brought him to the helm of Sidwell and Friends’ girls’ high school tennis team, among other places with competitive tennis programs.
“I’m very focused on getting my students to love the sport; grass roots has been my main focus right now.” Thanks to an introduction from Tennis Zone Plus, Randy became connected to Volkl and his new racquet of choice. “I like it; the way I would describe it is clean,” says Randy, who even strings his own racquets at home. “The way the racquet was designed — the grommets for example are very sleek and they fit properly unlike any other brands. Playing wise, I like the feel of it.”
On his off time from coaching his many students, Randy spends a lot of his time encouraging his two young sons to pick up the game, plus he sharpens his own skills in USTA league matches. “The interest is there,” says Randy of coaching his seven and 3-year-old boys. “I make sure they get a little interested and slowly feed them a little bit of that and a little bit of this. My older son hit a ball once and after that he got the bug because he said ‘oh wow I can do that.’ My goal for the second one is to keep him in the environment. And having that ‘aha’ moment.”
Above all else, Randy says he follows a philosophy that Roger Federer has when it comes to training: having fun should be the main focus. “The biggest thing for me now is that I want to enjoy the sport,” says Randy about how important it is to play for the love of the game. “Things become easier when you have fun; the hard work and the training become a part of it instead of a weight on your shoulders.”
